The Seaside Retreat
by IbelieveinSnape
Summary: Hermione's parents take her out of the Wizarding world for her own safety. She begs to go back, but must go into hiding first with the only person available. Prof. Snape. Starts out non lemony, but it will happen...oh will it ever. My first try ::whimper:
1. The Seaside Retreat

Disclaimer: I don't own it. If I did then there would be some very traumatized little kids walking around….

The orange glow of the streetlight washed over her, highlighting her honey colored skin and casting a lonely shadow behind her as the heels of her boots clicked on the pavement causing an eerie reverberation to sound off the sides of the fishing boats and sea side shanties around her. She felt so alone. This is what she wanted though right? To be alone? _Yes, this is what I wanted _she thought while she violently wiped a tear from her eye before it could spill down her face.

_I hate how vulnerable I feel right now. __Its__ supposed to be my last summer before my seventh year at Hogwarts, but here I am in some stupid small town in the states completely isolated from my world, my friends, and the war. I feel so out of the loop. I am Hermione Granger, 1/3 of the god damned golden trio! This isn't fair! How will they fight without me? _Hermione's hair whipped about her face when a salty breeze slipped around her to caress her clammy skin and bring her to sigh in relief and ultimately in resignation of her situation. She sat at the end of the expansive wooden pier and swung around to unzip the leather boots and release her long legs so she could dip her feet into the cool water. She didn't often wander unsupervised through the pre dawn streets, but so far from home the familiar stirring of isolation from her parents was strong enough to carry her out of their rental home and to the pier.

The garish neon had all but been extinguished at 3am and the crowds had thinned to the last few American sailors weaving themselves and their drunken women back to their hotel rooms for the night. _Harry and Ron would like this place_ she thought, smiling at the thought of her best friends.

The soft swish of clothes and the swirling of the air behind her alerted her sometime ago to the presence of someone behind her; therefore she wasn't surprised when the pleasantly musky scent of a man's cologne reached her nostrils. She was however jolted at the familiarity of it that she couldn't place. She turned around and her jaw immediately dropped at the sight of the man before her.

"Professor?"

The man looked startled at being addressed with his formal title so far from the home where anyone knew him as such. He looked at the woman in front of him and his eyes widened with shock as he realized who was sitting before him.

"Miss Granger?" he stammered watching as she rose from the end of the pier and began to slip her boots back over her golden legs.

"What the hell are you doing here child, so far from your home and safety? The last news I heard from the school was that no one knew where you had gone, your family home was empty and there was no notice of you leaving".

Her relief of coming in contact with someone from her own world was so great that she barely paid attention to her flash of annoyance over being referred to as "child" or to the shock of actually being pleased to see the infamous greasy git of the dungeons. "My parents sir, they read about the dangers of the war from a Daily Prophet I left lying around and they took me here fearing for my safety. They don't understand what is at stake, and they don't want me to return to Hogwarts in the fall. I have had no way to contact anyone to tell them that my parents are demanding I sever all ties with our world. They even made me give my familiar Crookshanks away because I bought him in Diagon Alley".

Though Snape was startled by this new he didn't show it. His face was carefully schooled into features that feigned indifference. Though he did agree with the injustice of tearing the brightest witch of her age away from the world where she would no doubt make a difference, it was of little concern to him and he held no desire to become involved in her twisted life other then to alert the headmistress of her safety.

"Ms. Granger, surely you realize that at 17 years old you are considered legal age for us and may do as you please?"

"Yes, I understand that, but if I walk away from my parents now I can never go back to them, and I do fear for their safety during the war. I just can't leave and abandon them forever!" She spat while her voice began to take on that high pitched tone which signaled that she was precariously close to losing control of her emotions. Hermione Jane Granger did not lose control. Sure she had set canaries on Ronald last year after he shoved his relationship (if you can call it that. HA!) with Lavander in her face, but her temper was one thing, self pity was an arena she preferred not to enter.

"I see. Well seeing as you have been out of contact for about a month I suppose I have the honor of telling you that the war has come to a close. Precious Potter did indeed vanquish the Dark Lord to whatever hell he sprang forth from, the result being that though the losses for the side of the light were heavy, the wizarding world is now safe again. Most of the death eaters have been captured or killed though a few are still at large and wreaking havoc as much as they can in hiding. I must say, however grudgingly though, that without the research on Horcruxes that you procured for Potter before the final battle, the war would have been disastrous. In fact I do believe you have been awarded an Order of Merlin First Class that Potter and Weasley accepted in you honor." Snape finished this statement with something close to boredom in his voice. After all, it wouldn't do to tell her that he had been more then mildly annoyed that the bloody trio had their portraits hanging in the ministry. Not to mention the idea being rolled around to make "Golden trio day" a wizarding holiday. Eww.

"Wh- When did this happen professor"? She stammered completely disregarding the information about her receiving an award, though she did tuck away the fact that Harry and Ron were safe and felt a glow of pride in their abilities.

"Shortly after the school year ended Granger"

Though Hermione knew she should be thrilled at the news, and she was deep inside, she couldn't help but feel even more isolated and alone at that moment. Though she hated herself for being so selfish, she wanted to be there. She wanted to stand beside Harry and Ronald and watch as Voldemort fell at their feet ending the darkness that had begun encapsulating her world again 6 years ago. Her true world, not the world of dentistry and other silly muggle things that she once cherished as her reality. "I have to go back Professor I need to be with the people I love, with Harry and Ron, and the Weasleys. Please sir, come to my rental house and tell my parents the story, they will have to believe you and allow me to return to Scotland with you!"

"As charming as getting wrapped up in your life sounds" he sneered "I must decline your plea, which is of no consequence to me, and continue my long awaited vacation in what I thought was an entirely non magical, err go anonymous, town"

Hermione's face fell at his words and though disappointment began to show on her features it was quickly replaced by a look of sheer determination as she opened her mouth to argue " Professor though I understand your hatred for me may cloud your judgment between what is right and what is easy I must tell you that I am prepared to follow you around for the remainder of your so called vacation until I at least have your word that you will contact Professor McGonagall or someone from the Order and let them know of my predicament, and of my unwillingness to be in it. Unless of course you are here running from the accusations that you in fact murdered Dumbledore out of cold blood and not out of a previous oath with him and are not unwilling to help me, but unable?"

Though he was quite unwilling to admit it, even to himself, Severus Snape was impressed. It seemed that the quiet Gryffindor had found herself a backbone somewhere and was able to use it to stand up against the fearsome ex death eater façade he prided himself on. He also couldn't help but notice the lovely pink in her cheeks that arose from the argument and the fire that had burst in her eyes. "Miss Granger you forget yourself. You are speaking to a professor and one who holds the key to your freedom in his hands, if I could extend to you one piece of advice right now it would be to hold your tongue unless it is used to beg for my help. And incidentally I was cleared of any wrong doing by memories left to Minerva from Albus himself. Even Potter has set aside his arrogance to accept that I was acting only on the orders Dumbledore gave me. Though I fail to see how it is any business of yours."

"Well Professor" Hermione retorted with as much disdain dripping on his title as she could muster "seeing as how you are unwilling to help me AND you are the only one who knows I am here, unless of course you are hiding someone from the order in your cloak, then I must say that if you leave then any hope of me returning to Hogwarts in the fall goes with you. If that is the case then you are no longer my professor, so I shall call you Severus and I SHALL SPEAK TO YOU ANY DAMN WAY I PLEASE!" Hermione's eyes flashed and her cheeks flushed when she finished her rant as she glared at Snape daring him to argue again. This was not some silly little spat over a Saturday detention, this was her future and he would be sorely mistaken if he thought she would let his foul demeanor scare her out of trying everything possible to return her to the only world where she ever belonged.

It was then that Professor Snape did the one thing she did not expect.

"Alright Miss Granger" he acquiesced "I will not cut my vacation short to be your errand boy, though I will send a message to McGonagall and the Order to let them know of your location and your predicament." It wasn't 10 seconds after the sentence was out of his mouth that he found he was having the air squeezed out of him by a young Gryffindor who saw fit to thank him with a hug instead of with words. He wasn't at all sure he liked this very physical thank you, though he must admit that she carried a delightful scent of brown sugar and amber about her.

She released him from the hug and had the good grace to look somewhat embarrassed. Though she was sorry that she invaded his space, the feel of his strong lean muscles beneath his robes was not lost on her. She was however hesitant to admit it and resigned herself to forget that fact and concentrate on relaying the information to him for his letters. "I'm sorry Professor Snape sometimes my excitement runs away with me and I act before I think. Though this is not the manner in which I hoped you would carry out my wishes, I won't complain. I will however revel in winning a small battle and I will certainly accept whatever help you see fit to give me. "

"Follow me then Miss Granger and we will send these letters off immediately so I may continue on with my vacation without the annoying situation of you looming over my holiday." And with that he turned on his heel and led the way to his rental cottage to compose the letters. The walk was short and there was no conversation between the two until Snape heard a small gasp from the young witch walking behind him. Snape turned quickly drawing his wand and pushed Hermione behind him while he assumed a defensive posture. He was however puzzled when he saw no one around. "What was the meaning of that noise Granger? I thought someone had tried to attack you"! She was impressed by his reflexes, but she did find it a bit over the top and she began to giggle as she told him as much. "Professor number one, do not be so dramatic it was only a gasp, and number two I am just surprised. It seems that your vacation cottage is right next door to mine. See?" Snape turned slightly to follow the direction of her finger to the yellow cottage with peeling white shutters that sat not 30 feet from his own rental. It was then that he groaned loudly making it clear that though Miss Granger may find the situation humorous, he most certainly did not. He had assumed that traveling well outside of the country to the coast of Maine would ensure him some privacy for a little while, at least from anyone he knew.

"I change my mind Miss Granger; I have decided that it is in my best interest to deny you the right to use my familiar to send the letter unless you agree to one stipulation." Upon hearing this Hermione narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, preparing for another row. "Professor I hardly think that your proposition is appropriate, I know that it must have been lonely and terribly taxing to serve under two masters for so many years, but I must remind you that I am 17 and your student." Gaping at her with confusion for a moment his features then twisted into one of shock and perhaps a small amount of anger when it dawned on him that she though he was trying to proposition her. He cleared his throat before he answered with as much exasperation as he could muster. "Come on now Granger, surely you don't think I was trying to seduce a skinny know it all Gryffindor like yourself. My stipulation is much simpler then that. I ask that you leave me be. I know it will be tempting to grate on my last nerve since you are right next door, but I value my alone time immensely. When I hear back from the Order I will call on you."

He looked at her then and was pleased to note the very obvious blush that had taken over the honeyed skin of her neck and face. Snape was pleased that he had embarrassed her, he saw this as fitting retribution for her making him uncomfterable with her assumption of his need to secure sex through bartering. He watched her struggle to control her embarrassment with little success before she spoke again. "Of course Professor, I'm sorry. I will give you all the privacy you require. But please remember that if you would like to have dinner sometime or want some company you should feel free to call upon my family. I fully intend to tell my parents that facts you have relayed to me and I may let them know you're here based on the way they react to the news of the war ending. I will ask them to respect your privacy as well though."

By the end of their exchange he had removed the wards on the cottage and ushered her inside silently gathering the necessities of parchment, quills, and ink to begin the letters. She hunched over the kitchen counter writing to the Weasleys explaining everything while beside her Snape did the same for McGonagall. It was somewhat strange to be leaning over a counter in a cottage in Maine writing a letter with Snape so close she could feel the heat roll off his body and over her skin which was still flushed with embarrassment over the misunderstanding on her part earlier. Even through her excitement over stumbling across someone magical, Hermione was sensible enough to want to write the letter and leave Snape to do whatever it is he would fancy doing on a holiday in America.

Suddenly a vision of a very pale potions master building a castle in the sand on the coast popped in her head and she let a giggle escape her before she could stifle it. Upon hearing her feminine squeak Snape turned to her and raised an eyebrow. Hermione chose to ignore the question in his eyes and proceeded to seal the finished letter and hand it to him. "Here you go sir signed, sealed, and soon to be delivered, one damsel in distress letter". Snape took the letter from her, pretending not to notice when his fingers brushed against her palm. He definitely chose to pretend not to notice how soft and supple the skin of her palm was against his calloused digits and mentally shook himself for wondering how soft other parts of her were. After all, she had certainly hit the nail on the head with her earlier assessment of his sex life. No he didn't actually have to barter for sex, but her really didn't have time for it. A barely visible nod was all he gave in way of a response before he unceremoniously ushered her to the door.

"I expect that it shall take my Hawk almost a fortnight to deliver these and return with news. Do not try to bother me with the usual questions that seem to explode out of you. I will fetch you when I hear anything. Goodnight Miss Granger". He spoke with harshness in his voice, but without any real conviction behind it.

"Of course sir, thank you for your help" however minimal it may be, she thought "I look forward to hearing from you. Goodnight Professor." And with that she walked to her own cabin stumbling slightly in the sand and disappeared inside. Moments later a light appeared in the window upstairs and Snape, still on his porch watched the blackened silhouette of Hermione peel layers of clothing off her and grow smaller as she moved from the window.

Snape took a sharp breath and shook his head hoping the erotic visual would leave him be. _So much for stone cold unfeeling bastard _he thought_ one glimpse of __Granger's naked shadow and I start to squirm. That coupling won't be happening anytime soon. Maybe around the same time Remus announces his love for sheep while dancing on the table with ladies knickers on his head. _


	2. The Next Two Weeks

Disclaimer: Come on now… we all know it ain't mine. Just the story, nothing else….

Chapter Two …………. The next two weeks

Hermione felt that the following two weeks were torture. Though there was plenty to occupy her time with, even in such a small muggle town, she was so anxious for a response from the Order that time crawled by. She craved contact with the Wizarding world, and though she made good on her promise to Professor Snape there were times when she found her resolve wavering. One day she actually had to lock herself in her room and sit on her hands to keep from wandering next door and knocking until the Professor opened the door, just so she could make sure the last six years were not a dream.

Hermione had relayed the facts of the war that she had obtained from Snape to her parents. They were reluctant to believe her, though they did grudgingly agree to wait and see what the news from home said. She told them of Snape staying next door and was quick to assure her parents that he wanted nothing to do with them while he was there and that she felt the same. For now she would content herself with sunning on the beach and wading out in the ocean on the surfboard someone had left at the cottage. She couldn't really surf, never having tried before, and honestly couldn't even imagine the waves there getting high enough for her to make a real go at it, but she could imagine herself back home with her friends as she bobbed amongst the waves with her back against the board and her face turned to the sunshine.

Though she knew Snape was right next door she had never suspected that the feeling of isolation that permeated her life recently was not a feeling solely found in her. The dark man in the next cottage was feeling just as lonely. After serving Dumbledore and Voldemort for so long Snape couldn't help but feeling that he no longer had a purpose to keep him going. Sure, teaching potions was fine, in fact he secretly enjoyed knowing he played some part in shaping the minds of the generations of wizards that passed through Hogwarts, but a man is more then just a Professor, just like he is more then a Death eater, spy, and greasy bat.

It seemed to Snape that he could disappear all together and no one would really notice. He had fulfilled his role in the war and his welcome has been worn out. It was very hollow feeling knowing that the only person who ever truly gave a damn about you had died at your own wand. Albus was the closest thing to a father he had ever had and he had killed him. Snape loathed admitting that sometimes he thought that if he had a wife or girlfriend in his life to come home to he could pull out from under the blanket of despair that had washed over him. It was rather disconcerting to know that Granger had pegged him so completely when she said that he had no one in his life to turn to while serving his two masters, unless of course you count the whores in Knockturn Alley, which he didn't.

It was epiphanies like these that kept Snape inside and well plied with liquor during the duration of this fortnight, though he occasionally wandered to the window to observe the Granger girl sunning or floating in the sea on some polished muggle board. It was in fact these journeys to the window that brought about his most severe bouts of loneliness. Though it was from an unexpected source, a man would have to be frozen not to notice the chit as she sashayed about in amazingly tiny bathing suits. _Her parents will not let her endanger herself by hanging out with Potter and Weasley, but they allow her out of the house in less then what decent undergarments cover? _he huffed. Though the irony of muggle reasoning wasn't lost on him he must admit that he wasn't really complaining. How could a man be sour when he watched her sit upon her board and stretch, running her hands through her wet curls while she arched her back. It was indecent, but Snape couldn't help but envy the droplets of water that were granted the privilege of sliding from her hairline, down her cheek, across her supple cherry tinted lips, curving around her chin to drop down and land upon her breast. More then once he found himself imagining taking that same journey with his tongue.

Snape shook his head hoping to clear it of those thoughts; he had news for Miss Granger today.


	3. News

Chapter Three …… News

He walked across the sand to her parent's cottage and knocked. He was relieved when it was Hermione that opened the door and was slightly amused when she squealed with delight upon seeing him. Very few people in his lifetime ever squealed with anything other then disgust upon seeing him.

"Ohmygosh Ohmygosh the letters are here!!! Come in Professor please! Have you opened them? What do they say? Can I go home? How is everyone?" she shrieked grabbing the letter and leaving the door open to allow Snape to find his own way into the cottage.

They sat down at the scrubbed wooden table and each began to read the scrolls addressed to them. Hermione's letter was somewhat thicker then the Professor's and she was curious as to why until she realized that she not only had a letter from McGonagall, but also fro Harry and Ron. A warm feeling spread over her at the though of hearing from them finally, but she pushed it down and decided to read McGonagall's letter first.

_**Miss Granger-**_

_**I am so pleased to**__** hear that you are doing well and with your parents. I have sent the a letter that should arrive shortly after yours with a copy of the daily prophet included in it so that they may see for themselves that the battle has ended. I look forward to your return in the fall and will do whatever I can to expedite your return to London. However much we anticipate your return I feel that it is prudent to be secretive about it due to the rogue death eaters. In fact, I believe we should send your parents to continue their holiday elsewhere while Professor Snape and you stay where you are for a bit longer. I will handle the arrangements with your parents and apperate to see them in two days time. Good day Miss Granger and please accept my condolences of spending more time then necessary with Professor Snape and my congratulations on your Order of Merlin.**_

_****__****__** Minerva McGonagall**_

_** Headmistress of Hogwarts**_

_****__** School of Witchcraft and Wizardry **_

_**PS (The portrait of you in the ministry is lovely. The artist certainly managed to catch that knowing glint in your eye. You look most formidable.)**_

Hermione felt her heart drop after reading the letter. She was very excited to hear a plan for her return, but she highly doubter her Mum and Dad would go along with it. After all it was the danger that kept them from letting her return. She would just have to wait and see.

With a jolt she remembered she wasn't alone. She looked over at Snape and could only assume that by the very ugly scowl set upon his face that his letter read something of the same as hers. Hermione wasn't particularly excited by the fact that the remainder of her summer was to be spent with him instead of at the burrow with her second family though she doubted she found it as distasteful as he obviously did. Another month in this miniature version of a town living in a house with the potions master? Well at least now she felt as though she earned her Order of Merlin.

"I am sorry you are being inconvenienced further by me Professor" Hermione murmured, almost afraid to speak above the timid whisper. And for the second time this summer, Snape surprised her with his answer.

"Miss Granger, its not your fault, though I do fully intend to make you miserable for it should I have to baby-sit you I will grudgingly admit to finding the peace and quiet of my cottage a bit boring. After all, I am used to living with the war and chasing after you and your boyfriends to make sure none of you died from your adventures. As long as you continue to follow my rules then I will admit a change of pace may be welcome." Snape finished his sentence and stood to leave.

"I will return in two days with Minerva to arrange everything. Do try to warm your parents up to the idea beforehand though. I hardly want to be the one to beg your parents to let you stay alone in a house with a man twice your age. Specifically if that man is me. Good day Miss Granger."

It was then that he turned on his heel and left the cottage slamming the door behind him. Hermione just couldn't figure him out. He just admitted he was lonely in so many words and then as quickly as the decent Snape emerged he disappeared leaving the bastard to rear his ugly again. She certainly hoped she wouldn't be dealing with a dual personality for the entirety of this ordeal. _What a mess _she thought. And with that she slipped on her flip flops to find her parents and begin to beg for their cooperation.


	4. The Headmistress Visits Maine

Chapter Four………… The Headmistress visits Maine

Minerva McGonagall leaned upon the porch railing for support after apperating. She was not as spry as she used to be and long distance apperation could make anyone waver. After taking a moment to collect herself she trudged up to the door of the cottage and knocked, waiting for Severus to answer. When he finally appeared Minerva was surprised by his appearance. It was not so much that he looked different it was … well that he looked the same. Exactly the same.

"Severus!" Minerva crowed "what the hell is the point of spending the entire summer on a beach if you lock yourself away and from the smell of you, drink yourself into a coma every evening?"

Snape looked down upon himself mildly ashamed, but unwilling to admit to it. He did love Minerva, like a best friend she had been there for him, but he honestly could not stand her mollycoddling sometimes.

"I have another month to develop some resistance to the sun and sober up… why start right away and ruin the fun for later? Besides if I leave the cottage I may run into her..."

A knowing glint appeared in Minerva's eyes as she appraised Severus sharply. It seems as though the bloody twinkle was left to Minerva in Albus' will. "Her…why Severus you can't mean Miss Granger. After all, you are set to spend the next month with her. Why avoid her now? Unless of course you may feel something less then…shall we say appropriate for her?"

"Don't be daft Minerva, of course not" Snape snorted at that. "I just don't feel like entertaining a bored Gryffindor this summer. Her incessant questions make my head ache" Severus tried to convince himself of these words while willing his body not to react to the remembered images of Miss Granger in her tiny bikini. It would not do to convince her parents to let her stay with him while he had an erection.

"Well off we go its best to get this over with now"

Half an hour later found the two professors and Hermione and her parents having a heated "discussion" over the table at their cottage. Tea and biscuits had been provided by Hermione's parents with a false sense of welcoming, but they laid untouched as each side argued their points. What it eventually came down to was Hermione standing on her chair, looking every inch the warrior she was rumored to be while she stated her point.

"Damn it Mum and Dad this speaking of me as if I were a petulant child will cease this instant. I am of age in my world and not too far off from being it in yours. The only reason why this conversation it still happening is because I have refused to leave without your blessing" at this her eyes softened though the steely resolve did not fade at all "I love you both, but I will return to Hogwarts in the Autumn. I just hope I still have parents to talk to when I do".

Upon hearing this Hermione's parents ducked their heads together and after a few whispered words, finally consented to do as they were asked. After all, from everything they have been told even if their beloved daughter stayed with them, the Death Eaters would continue to search for her.

"Alright darling, you win. This isn't worth losing you over, especially since you have obviously made up your mind already. We love you honey, if this is what you want, so be it." Hermione's mother said quietly but with obvious sincerity.

Hermione clapped joyously upon hearing this and ran upstairs to get her things together for her move next door. She was terribly excited and anxious to finish her summer out, though it was with a heavy heart that she bade her parents goodbye. She still feared for them, even though they were going somewhere safe and protected.

Through no small amount of internal struggle did Hermione keep herself from crying. It really wouldn't do to have her Professors see her so weak. She took a deep breath and steadied her resolve before turning and deciding to gather her things quickly as not to keep Professor Snape waiting.


	5. The Move Next Door

Chapter Five … The move next door

Professor Snape trudged upstairs to find Hermione and help her collect her bags. When he reached her room her was surprised to see the mountain of luggage she had brought with her. It was like she brought her whole wardrobe with her. He decided against saying anything to her about it, but only due to the half embarrassed grin that graced her perfect little mouth.

_Perfect little mouth…uh oh this is going to be one long long month. Merlin __help__ me. _

After shrinking her luggage and trudging next door, the atmosphere grew decidedly thick between the two. Hermione bit her lip nervously and decided the best course of action against getting snarked at was to stand in the middle of the kitchen and not touch anything. She should have known better…

"Well Granger, are you going to become a permanent fixture in the kitchen or would you like to accompany me to deposit these things in your room. I'm sure it will take awhile to put away the entirety of Gladrags that you have shoved into your trunk. Personally I don't see how those tiny little bathing suits can take up so much space in a trunk".

"Tiny little bathing sui…. ? PROFESSOR! Have you been watching me? I thought you didn't want to see my face this summer?" Hermione demanded, though not without a twinkle a amusement in her eyes.

"I have not been watching you Granger… but you traipse around in the ocean outside my window, I have happened to see you when I looked out the window, though I can assure you those drapes have been closed now."

Hermione took the opportunity to look over her shoulder at the window hangings. They were open. Snape followed her eye line and noted to himself that next time he lied he should defiantly verify that he wouldn't get caught. It was a little uncomfterable getting called out by the Granger chit. And he definitely didn't like the smug grin she wore.

He watched as she cockily sauntered over to her luggage collected it and began to make her way up the stairs. His eyes seemed permanently affixed to her swaying backside and he had to force himself to peel his eyes away as she turned back to him.

"Oh Professor Snape, don't worry about it for the next moth you can look all you want. By the way are you going to be a permanent fixture in your living room for the next month, or would you like to show me where I will be staying?"

At that comment Snape had to metaphorically pick him jaw up off the ground and repress a snort. _Little minx! Then again, maybe this summer __wont__ be so bad. _

It was about two hours later that found Hermione stomping down the stairs in one of her infamous swim suits. She crept around the lower level to let the Professor know about her plans to enjoy the sunshine a bit and read on the beach. He wasn't in the living room, the kitchen, or the office. Honestly how could the man leave and not tell her. Wasn't he supposed to be protecting her? And what was that glorious smell? Like cherries and vanilla…

Sufficiently distracted for the moment, Hermione crept around to locate the source of the scent. She followed her nose to the front door and cracked it open peering around it. There on the porch in a conferrable shabby lounge chair sat Professor Snape. Puffing away on what looked to be a cigarette.

"Mmmm, that smells amazing Professor what is it?"

He looked to his left where she stood with the doorway framing her perfect little body and took another drag.

"It's a hand rolled cigarette. I roll them myself Miss Granger. Its my personal blend of tobacco and other secret ingredients. It's actually quite pure and doesn't leave behind the ashy taste that those muggle cancer sticks do."

As always when learning new information, even as insignificant as the type of cigarette Professor Snape preferred, Hermione's eyes took on that certain sparkle.

"Can I try it?"

"What?"

"Can I try it, your cigarette sir.. Can I?"

Snape turned a shrewd eye upon her obviously sizing her up again. "You smoke Miss Granger?"

"Oh, well sometimes mostly when I drink sir, I doubt Hogwarts would appreciate it if I started introducing a muggle vice into the school. I really try to avoid it during the year. Now, can I please try it?"

"Humph, all right. I don't share well though, if you want to smoke one the you have to roll it yourself." Snape gestured to the table beside him where he had rolling papers and a vial of what looked to be reddish brown tobacco set out.

"Do you mind showing me how sir… I have never rolled my own."

"I of course intended to show you, I wouldn't want to waste my supplies on your fumbling. Come here then."

Hermione walked over to the table and held a paper out straight while Snape set the tobacco inside began showing her how to roll it correctly. His hands were resting upon hers finger gently prodding hers in the right pattern. To Hermione it felt amazing to have his long strong finger upon her, her heart was beating fast and her pupils began to dilate. It was then that he lifted the edge and ran his tongue along it slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. Hermione felt an instant gush of wetness between her legs and was grateful for the sarong she had tied around her waist. She was almost positive that her juices would leave a wet mark on her bottoms. It was then that she decided she would do whatever it took to make him want her. Maybe it would be a summer thing, maybe it would grow into something more, but she would have him.

"Thank you Sir" she murmured somewhat huskily. "Would you please give me a light?"

She leaned forward towards his want he had lit and placed the cigarette between her lips making sure so give him an ample view of her cleavage as she leaned forward. His eyes looked down then flicked back to her face as she drug deeply on her cigarette. She moaned a small moan of pleasure and licked her lips. It was almost his undoing.

"Budge up Professor, there's only one chair." Hermione stated as she sat at the end of his lounge chair, wiggling most enticingly into a conferrable position.

By the time they finished their cigarettes in silence, the sun was setting low over the beach. The pinks and yellows of the sky were beautiful, but the real show was the way the shadows played across Hermione's face, chest, and arms lending an already beautiful woman an air of mystery and danger. It was a picture that would be ingrained indefinitely in Severus' mind.

"Well, I came to tell you I was going to lay out on the beach and read," Hermione stated, effectively breaking Severus out of his reverie "but it's a bit late for it now, would you like to go out to dinner Professor? Its on me, sort of a thank you for dealing with me all summer dinner."

"I have no idea where we would go here Miss Granger, I have barely left the cottage since I arrived here"

"That's okay Professor, I know a wonderful little seafood place right on the water. It should be relatively slow this time of the evening and the food is wonderful. Come on, I will transfigure something for you to wear if you didn't bring any muggle clothing. Or go like that, I don't care, I've always had a thing for a Goth man."

Goth? What the hell is Goth? Hmm should I go or should I stay? I suppose one night out won't hurt and after all, its on her. "Alright Granger, tonight we dine out, but tomorrow I insist we eat in. Go get ready; I have some muggle clothes so I won't need you to help me, thank you."

A slow smile spread across Hermione's face at this and she practically ran up the stairs to get ready, calling over her shoulder to Snape instructions on how nicely to dress.

**A/N: Thank you so much for the review so far everyone! I love hearing everyone's input even if it's negative. After all, how does a writer get better if not for constructive criticism! This is my first try at a fan fiction. I love Hermione and Snape, though I think Snape has to be one of the most challenging characters to keep straight. I picture him as a noble person so I want him to fight with himself about his feelings for Hermione, but as a person who enjoys se, I keep thinking JUST DO HER!!! DON'T FIGHT ****IT FOR GOODNESS SAKE!! ****Lol.**** I would love to hear from people with suggestions that you may have. Oh, and by the way I am doing this without a beta so please let me know it my grammar is just terrible!**


	6. Getting Ready for a Night Out

Chapter Six … Getting ready for a night out

Hermione quickly gathered together her things together for her shower. The bathroom was rather small, but had a window that Hermione opened. It was already dark but the smell of salt wafted up and instantly relaxed her. Peeling off her clothes she stepped under the hot spray and began to lather her body. The scent of her amber body wash wafted up through the steam, mixing with the salt scented air and created a near intoxicating blend. Hermione sighed as she ran her lathered fingers over her breasts and her breath hitched at the sensation.

She didn't have time for this, she really really didn't. She quickly rinsed the soap off her, hissing as the water hit her ultra sensitive skin and then proceeded to wash her long curls. However, it wasn't long before her hand had strayed to her nether lips again and not much longer after before she had slipped two fingers inside herself and was using her thumb to rub her nub.

At that moment Snape found himself halted on the way to his bathroom. He was innocently enough walking by Miss Granger's room when he heard the moans. _No it couldn't be. She surely isn't in there doing THAT_ he thought. He couldn't have been more wrong though, for he then heard heavy panting and her moan "fuck Severus do you see what you do to me?" That snapped him out of his musings quickly enough and he scurried away from the door as quickly as he could consider all the blood had rushed to his groin.

Once Snape reached the bathroom and had tenderly peeled the clothes away from his erection he began his normal hygiene routine. In fact despite the general consensus on the subject, he did take a lot of care in his hygiene, but he was unfortunately cursed with oily hair that only got worse throughout the day. As for his teeth, well who cares? He brushes them religiously and the result stays the same, and you wouldn't catch him using charms or products to sort it out with. As far as Snape was concerned using all of that gunk would make him one step away from being a poof. Something he definitely wasn't.

He tried valiantly to ignore his erection but when it came down to it, it just wouldn't go away. In the end Snape decided he had better just take care of the thing and hope it didn't make another appearance at an inopportune time. Sighing in resolve her wrapped his long finger around his dripping cock and threw his head back and groaned. The picture running through his mind over and over was none other then Granger on her knees in the shower in front of him. He imagined her leaning forward and taking him into her mouth, slowly at first then faster and deeper while she moaned. He could hear her moans from earlier in his head and they drove him wild. She would run her finger down and play with her cunt while sucking him off. It was however, him imagining her purring out "fuck Severus, do you see what you do to me?" that sent him over the edge. Thick white strings of cum spurted over his hand and the shower wall while he groaned out her name.

Rinsing himself and the wall off, Severus quickly finished his bathroom routine. The next challenge lay ahead now; what to wear to a night out in a muggle town. He made his decision and dressed in sleek black trousers that hung on his lean frame perfectly and chose a dark grey linen shirt which he quickly decided looked better with the first two buttons left undone. The ensemble was finished with his black boots. He loved his boots and he refused to leave that part of him behind, even for an evening.

With the task of dressing finished, Severus wandered downstairs to wait on the porch and relax with a cigarette. Upon reaching his destination he found a beautiful white owl waiting patiently at the door to deliver two scrolls. They were addressed to Hermione and were undoubtedly from her two boy toys. He reached down to relieve the owl of its burden and carried the letters and the owl into the cottage. After satisfying the small messengers need for food and a rest he sent it on its way. For a moment Severus toyed with the idea of not giving Hermione the scrolls, but in the end decided against it, after all why should he care if every bay in school wrote to her this summer, she was nothing but his ward this summer.

Just as he was wrapping up his internal debate about the letters, Severus turned hearing footsteps on the stairs. His breath was momentarily stolen from him as he gazed upon the beauty coming down the stairs. It wasn't natural that a slip of a girl should transform so quickly from some bikini wearing temptress to a woman of such ethereal beauty.

Her hair, which had mercifully been tamed after the Yule ball fourth year, was falling in long chestnut waves almost to her waist. The top half had been pulled into a French twist with tendrils falling and framing her face. And what a face it was. It seemed to glow tonight with moonbeams that had no business hiding in her skin. Her makeup was minimal with a bit of silvery shadow framing her eyes which were huge, mascara accenting them and making them look larger. Her lips, normally full and swollen from her chewing on them were a delectable shade of red, shiny and pouty.

All of this was amazing on her, but her dress, that caused Severus' heart to leap into his throat. It was a strapless black number, which hugged her curves tightly then flared out around her hips landing just above her knees in the front yet flowing slightly longer in the back. It was simple and classic and though it looked amazing on her, it wouldn't have been anything special if it weren't for the silver dragon embroidered into it whose head began just under her left breast, tongue extended, which seemed to lick rather naughtily towards her nipple but couldn't quite reach. Severus sympathized with the poor creature, to be that close but unable to taste would surely drive him mad. The rest of the serpent like creature twisted around her luscious body, ending in a small tail curled around her hemline which drew your eyes directly to the fuck me heels she had on. They were indecently delicate in a shimmering silver and black that looked impossible to walk in as the heel was spiked and at least 3 inches tall.

Noticing the look on her normally emotionless Professors face made Hermione's heart beat faster in her chest.

"Do you like the dress Sir? Harry bought it for me last Christmas. He said that he saw it and thought it looked like it was made for me, though I'm not sure I agree, it has certainly become one of my favorites. I was so surprised Harry would pick… sorry, I'm babbling." she trailed off.

"It looks perfect Mrs. Granger, though for the summer, maybe we could use first names. I would feel very out of place being out with a woman like you tonight and having her call me Professor. Severus would be acceptable."

"Of course Severus" she tested it out. Of course she had moaned it earlier in the shower, but being able to use it to his face sent a thrill coursing through her. "And call me Hermione".

"Well Hermione, shall we go? Oh, by the way you received letters from your boyfriends, they are on the counter."

"Oh thank you! They aren't my boyfriends though nor will they ever be. To be honest I think Harry might be gay or really needs to get laid and Ron well, lets not ruin a lovely evening with that mess. I will read the letters when we return, but I am famished so let's get going."


	7. A Night Out

Chapter Seven…A night out

They were seated quickly at the restaurant despite the small wait for the outside tables. The night was beautiful and it seemed Hermione wasn't the only on who had the idea to enjoy some fresh seafood and sip drinks overlooking the ocean. Of course Severus noted that if the host hadn't nearly tripped over himself when Hermione walked in the door they may have still been waiting.

The atmosphere was cozy and intimate and honestly made both of them a little uncomfterable as they tried to come up with suitable dinner conversation. It seemed a place for lovers, and lovers they were not. At least not yet, though hopefully soon if Hermione had her way.

The waiter approached their table keeping his eyes on Hermione the entire time. Severus would have said something if it weren't for the fact that it seemed being with a beautiful lady helped you receive the best service in the house. Severus ordered a whiskey and was surprised when saw Hermione pull out an ID and order herself ale. After the waiter had left he raised and eyebrow at her in silent question.

"Oh, its fake "she blushed "I know I shouldn't have it, but I hate being allowed to drink back home, but not being able to in America. I just charmed a piece of parchment to look like an ID, no biggie".

"No it wasn't that. After I found out that you smoke I should have assumed you were naughtier then you looked. It's more your choice in beverages, American muggle beer, it seems so crass for you."

"Well, it's actually quite good. I love liquor, but sometimes you just can't beat a nice cold beer. And it may be crass, but I can chug any of the Gryffindor guys under the table".

It was then that Hermione proved her point about nothing being better then a beer by drinking her way through a total of four glasses throughout dinner. _Sweet Merlin _Severus thought _I'm going to have to carry the tiny thing home_.

Yet again however, Hermione surprised him. Not only did she seem unaffected (only the slightly redder then normal ears proved otherwise) but she had relaxed enough to keep up a conversation of brilliant analyses and witty repartee's. The unfortunate victim of this wit however was none other then the waiter who took such joy in drinking in Hermione's figure every chance he got. Said waiter had made the mistake of deciding he was much more worth her attention then the older dark man she was with, and apparently in a moment of infinite stupidity, decided to express this belief.

"So doll" he stated with all the cockiness he could muster "what are you doin' with a guy like that?"

Not being familiar with Hermione, he took the mischievous glint in her eyes and the straightening of her shoulder as a good sign and let a sly grin begin to cross his features. He was a bit confused to see that she had grabbed the old perv's hand and barely had time to collect himself when she leaned forward giving him an enticing view of cleavage and stated huskily "well sir, in about 15 minutes when we get home I will be doing a lot of things with him that I won't be doing with you". And with that statement she twirled on her heels and walked out of the restaurant tossing over her shoulder to Severus, who was still standing still shocked by her statement "well hurry up darling. I think I would like to be on top tonight".

Severus snapped out of his statuesque state rather quickly and followed her out the door. It was here that he finally let his façade crumble and began to laugh a rich baritone laugh that sounded like it hadn't been used in years.

"That Hermione was brilliant. I do believe the young man is still trying to figure out what exactly we'll be doing that requires you to be on top".

"Do you think I should go tell him its sleeping on bunk beds?" she replied saucily and turned. "Oh Severus! Look! The bar across the street is having karaoke night! Can we go? It seems so early to go home!"

_Karaoke?__ What the hell is that? Oh well _he thought _this has been fun I suppose one more bar wouldn't hurt. Then I can find out what this karaoke business is about._

"Alright Hermione, lets go. But please enlighten me on the way about karaoke. I prefer not to look ignorant in front of the muggles".

Five minutes later and Hermione and Severus were walking into the bar, Severus feeling a little apprehensive about watching random people sing into an amplifying device. They took a seat near the front and Hermione got up to buy the first round for them. She returned with another whiskey for him and an apple martini for herself, along with two shots of something that smelt like sweet candies.

"These" Hermione stated "are butterscotch schnapps shots. They are very very good, though a little sweet, so I'm not sure if you will like them."

One the count of three they both downed their shots. Hermione was left with a sated smile and Severus had jumped from the table to order four more. They were amazing! After the alcohol had hit them they kicked back to watch four muggles sing something called the Time Warp. It was rather catchy, but apparently had more meaning to muggles as he heard various people calling out phrases and interacting with the singers. Hermione included.

Before he knew it an hour had passed and he was lost in his own world of thought when he heard a very drunk Hermione mumble something. Not wanting to pull completely from his own mind he mumbled something in return and took another sip of his whiskey. Therefore he was surprised to see her climbing the stage somewhat unsteadily to the microphone.

_Oh Merlin, she's going to sing I hope this isn't too embarrassing for her. If so I guess I will just get her drunk enough to forget about it afterwards _he thought.

Slow sultry music started to play and Severus decided that he didn't care if she was horrible. It would be worth it to watch her body move to the music like that all night. He was blown away however when she opened her mouth. Her voice was amazing. Low and husky, but it flowed over the room and stopped more then one conversation as people swiveled to look at the little vixen with the amazing voice. Severus let the words wash over him and recognized the tune vaguely as something he had heard years before in a muggle musical.

The minute you walked in the joint, I could see you were a man of distinction,A real big spender,Good looking, so refined.Say, wouldn't you like to know What's going on in my mind?So, let me get right to the point,I don't pop my cork for ev'ry guy I see.Hey, big spender, spend...A little time with...me...me...me!Do you wanna have fun?How's about a few laughs?I can show you a...good time...Do you wanna have fun...fun...fun?How's about a few laughsLaughs laughs I can show you agood timeFun, laughs good timeFun, laughs good timeFun, laughs good time...shhh...What did you say you are?How's about a ...(laugh)I could give you some...Are you ready for...(fun)How would you like a...Let me show you a ...(good time)Hey, big spender...Hey, big spender...The minute you walked in the joint,I could see you were a man of distinction,A real big spender.Good looking, so refined.Say wouldn't you like to know what's going on in my mind?So, let me get right to the point,I don't pop my cork for every guy I see.Hey, big spender, Hey, big spender! Hey, big spender!Spend...a little time with ...me!Fun...Laughs...Good Time!Fun...Laughs...Good Time!Fun...Laughs...Good Time!How about it palsy?...Yeah!

Every man in the place at that time wanted her to show him a good time a few women looked like they were thinking it over as well. Severus decided he would think about that later though. Hermione wobbled through her throng of admirers and agreed to sing again if they would let her rest for a couple of songs in between.

"I had no idea you could sing Hermione. That was amazing." Hermione blushed prettily.

"Thank you Severus. I don't usually sing in public, but I guess with the liquid courage tonight I had to have a go. Any requests for next time? I promised that group of sailors over there I would go again".

The thought in Severus' head at the moment was to tell her he requested her to shut up and kiss him, but he was trying to fight it. "Sure, I request you to shut up and kiss me". _DAMN! Oops!_

"What was that Severus?"

"Hmm? Oh nothing. Just said I wouldn't know anything to request. You pick". Hermione looked at him suspiciously but didn't say anything. A few minutes passed and she rose from the table stating that they should go after she was done; after all she had those letters from the boys to read.

The atmosphere in the bar changed to one of rapt attention as Hermione climbed the stage again and picked up the microphone. She whispered her selection to the operator and the music came out in faster beats then last time. She looked over to the table was sitting and winked at him before opening her mouth to sing.

I don't know what is that makes me love you soI only know I never wanna let you go'Cause you started something, can't you see?That ever since we met you've had a hold on meIt happens to be trueI only want to be with you

As she sang the chorus to the song she sauntered around the stage and leaned forward to rub her hand over the face of the sailor closest to her. The poor man nearly had a heart attack at being touched by her, she then slowly stood up and moved toward Severus' table. He could feel his heart beating faster as she made her towards him. He felt faint however when she sat in his lap and continued on:

It doesn't matter where you go or what you doI wanna spend each moment of the day with youLook what has happened with just one kissI never knew that I could be in love like thisIt's crazy but it's trueI only want to be with youYou stopped and smiled at me, asked me if I'd care to danceI fell into your open arms and I didn't stand a chanceNow listen honey, I just wanna be beside you everywhereAs long as we're together, honey, I don't care'Cause you started something, can't you seeThat ever since we met you've had a hold on meNo matter what you doI only want to be with youNo matter what you doI only want to be with you

The bar went up in cheers as she finished and Hermione made a point to wiggle her bum around in Severus' lap a bit before standing and returning the microphone to the stand.

"Well, are you ready to go Severus? It's almost one o'clock in the morning now" and to punctuate this fact she yawned widely and stretched her arms over her head. If Severus didn't already want her that delightful stretch that showcased her chest to him made him want to throw her over his shoulder and carry her to the cottage caveman style.

A/N: Special thanks to Prospera who gave me some wonderful advice on grammar. And also to NutsAboutHarry who was wonderful enough to catch my decidedly "un – British" way of speaking. Lol. Thanks so much to everyone who reviews and I appreciate all the help I can get with these things.


	8. Back Home for the Night

Chapter Eight…Back Home for the Night

Severus and Hermione stumbled through the door leaning on each other for support and crashed onto the sofa in the living room. Shoulder to shoulder and leaning on one another, they sighed and Hermione wiggled her way into the crook of his arm "accidently" letting her hand fall into his lap.

Severus felt her hand on his crotch and watched her out of the corner of his eye waiting to see if it was an accident or if he was going to have to try and stop something he very much wanted to happen from happening. He felt her fingers wiggle and stifled a groan and the temptation to thrust into her hand. He did however move his hips slightly to encourage oops I mean discourage her from continuing.

Hermione felt him shift under her and fought the urge to smirk. If she could just get him to lower his defenses tonight then maybe he would keep them lowered for the rest of the holidays. She could feel him hardening under her hand and was struck with inspiration. She leaned over Severus' lap under the pretense of looking at the clock. _That's right, just there_ she thought _success! _While maneuvering herself to "look at the time" she had managed to rub her breasts against his erection and could feel the heat from it even through her clothes. He look so delectable tonight in that muggle outfit she could just lick him from top to bottom. Even so though, she missed him in his imposing black robes. It was that man that was her "Professor" and she was his naughty little… oh well you know the clichés.

Enough daydreaming she thought time to get back to business. After rubbing herself back into her original position she stood up abruptly ending the delicious contact.

"Oh Severus, look at the time I should get to bed. But first, will you unzip me?" GULP! _Unzip her? Oh man __I'm__ not sure I can survive that. I already feel like I am going to tear a hold in my trousers._

This however, did not stop him from stepping behind her and almost reverently moving her hair to the side._ Damn how I want to kiss that __neck was_ all he could think over and over. It was rather amusing to Hermione that no man ever wondered how she managed to get her zipper up by herself, as long as they could help take it down. She felt his fingers brush every inch of skin exposed by her zipper and was surprised when she felt his warm lips brush the base of her back at the zippers end. She spun around to find him on his knees behind her eyes closed lips still helf pursed. Hermione thought he was the most amazing man she had ever seen.

She fell heavily to her knees before him and whispered "than you for the help Severus" right before she leaned forward and pressed her lips softly to his.

He felt her breath whisper thank you seconds before he felt her lips on his. A shadow of a touch against him, but so sweet he felt like crying. He leaned forward without thinking and pressed more aggressively into her, nipping on her bottom lip and groaning when he was allowed entrance and his tongue sweeping across hers. He ran his fingers behind her head and let the rest of her hair down then thrust his fingers into it holding her face against his like she would flee if he let go.

Hermione left go of the top of her dress to press her hands against Severus' face. The result of the removal of her hand meant her newly unzipped dress fell in a puddle around her knees. She shivered when the air hit her body and Severus moved his arms around her jolting out of his trance when he found no cloth beneath his fingers. He felt Hermione's hand on his as she guided him to her breasts and the lust induced trance was back as quickly as it fled. He skin felt sensational under his hands and her nipple were hard and pink.

He leaned forward to suck one of the perfect buds into his mouth and was rewarded with a sharp gasp then a throaty moan for his trouble. He began to lean her backwards with the intention of lowering her on the ground but was surprised when she twisted and had him on his back first. The protest on his lips was cut short quickly when she began to undo his trousers, completely ignoring his shirt. She wiggled her finger inside and pulled him free of his linen prison. Taking a moment to enjoy the beauty of his this cock, Hermione ran her nimble finger up the velvety rod to the head where a large drop of pre cum was dripping out. Very deliberately she leaned forward and keeping her eyes trained on his she stuck her tongue out and licked to salty liquid off him.

Severus threw his head back and moaned. It had been so long since he had been with anyone, and even longer since someone had gown down on him he wasn't sure he would last that long. His resolve to stop her came to an abrupt halt however when he looked down to see Hermione take him in her mouth and cup his balls with one hand. _One hand?__ Why did she only have one hand? _Oh Merlin he shouldn't have asked because he nearly lost it when he followed her arm down to see her fingers working furiously on her clit while she took him deep in her throat.

His hips were thrusting in time with her bobbing head and Hermione could feel his balls begin to contract giving the first warning of his impending orgasm. Hell she was so close herself when Severus reached down clasping her hand that she had inside herself, and lifted it to his mouth. H sucked her fingers into his mouth and rolled his tongue around them, savoring the taste of her on herself. It was this that sent Hermione over the edge and screaming with her mouth stuffed full of Severus' cock. He could feel the vibration over himself and was soon over the edge with her. He watched as she struggled to swallow every drop of him and pulled out of her mouth with a pop releasing the final string of cum onto her chin.

She looked so amazing leaning back on her knees with his orgasm hanging off her chin and wide eyes clouded with lust. He did then the only thing that he could have done. He kissed her, smooshing his semen all over her face and when he leaned back and licked himself from around her mouth she was sent into another orgasm.

A few minutes later had Hermione lifting her dress around her again and Severus tucking himself back into his pants. They walked upstairs next to each other, but Snape insisted they sleep in separate rooms for the evening. Though it was disappointing, it wasn't all bad. It left Hermione to scheme for a bit before drifting off to sleep and dream of being bent over a desk in the potions classroom while Professor Snape slapped into her from behind.

Sleep for Severus was much of the same. With dreams of her in many various positions that he was sure he would have to remember upon waking. His dreams however seemed to be constantly interrupted by Dumbledore waking in on them and telling Severus just how disappointed he was in him.

A/N: I am not so sure I like this chapter, so I may decide to take this story in a bit of a different direction. Also, someone reviewed and mentioned that the story was okay until I made Hermione perfect. I had never really thought about that before, but I suppose they are right, Hermione is coming of a bit one dimensional because of it, so I will try to work on it more. Happy New Year everyone!!!


	9. And So It Begins

Chapter Nine… And so it begins…

Morning dawned bright and predictably beautiful over the ocean. Even in their separate rooms, Hermione and Severus found themselves waking at the same moment with nearly identical grimaces as their bodies demanded restitution for the nights drinking. Groggy and with a sour taste in her mouth, Hermione stumbled to her bathroom and greedily gulped water down. She was instantly reminded of a shirt she had seen before which read "How can I be so thirsty when I drank so much last night?" This morning she related to it, but failed to see the humor in it. _I guess its time to beg for a hangover potion_ she sighed then made her way to Severus' door.

Severus found himself in a similar position as Hermione though he only had to stumble as far as the medicine cabinet to suck down a hangover cure. The tension almost instantly abated from his body and he was getting ready to take a shower when the knock sounded on his door. Smirking slightly he palmed his other hangover potion and made his way to her. He was however unprepared when he swung the painted door inward and saw her.

She looked utterly horrible, but still delectable. It rather offended Severus that the chit could show up at his bedroom wearing rumpled pajamas with little owls on them and a shirt that asked "whoooooo loves you?", her hair in disarray, and a bit of his own semen dried on the corner of her mouth and still elicit such a response in his body. All he wanted to do after the dream of Albus was turn her away and try his hardest to make the former headmaster proud of him for once. Shaking the thoughts from his head he handed her the vial and said "swallow that, get cleaned up, and meet me in the kitchen for breakfast. We have to talk".

Half an hour later a drastically more improved (in appearance as well as persona) Hermione following the scent of breakfast to the small kitchen. She looked at Severus in casual trousers and a loose linen top and felt butterflies in her stomach. This was the dreaded conversation about how they mustn't ever act on these feelings again and it will all fade in time. She knew it was coming but still dreaded it. Hell she knew they would have this conversation at least once when she decided to seduce him, and she had even prepared for it, making arguments in her head that sounded firm and convincing. She pulled out a chair and sat looking up at him waiting to hear his weak excuses.

"Miss Granger" he began, then shook his head and started again. "Hermione, I know last night seemed wonderful, and it was, but we can't behave like this. I am physically attracted to you but it doesn't excuse my lapse in judgment. I shouldn't have taken advantage of you, I should have…"

"Severus STOP" she interrupted and he did, though he looked as though he was gearing to start up again. "No, Severus I mean it, I don't want to hear about how you took advantage of me. In case you didn't realize it, I spent the whole night working out ways to take advantage of you. For Merlin's sake it's not even as though we fucked, though I certainly wouldn't have minded that at all. It was wonderful and hot and I want to do it again, right now in fact"

"Hermione, we can't. I am your teacher, maybe if this was a year later and you were finished with school. I'm not going to be able to live with myself if I see the disappointment of us in the faces of Minerva and your parents. I won't lose my job for some instant gratification, it's not worth it."

"You mean I'm not worth it don't you?"

"No Hermione I don't. You're beautiful and intelligent and I respect you enough to be having this conversation with you. But this is wrong."

"Severus please, hear me out just for once. This is the summer, the summer after the war, after you fought and won your freedom. I am not talking about love or our whole lives. In fact, it's ridiculous to be having that sort of conversation right now. It was one night of fooling around. I just want to have fun this summer with each other. Here in this town and this cottage we aren't teacher and student, we are simply a man and a women. End of story. Think about that please. I am talking a walk on the beach."

And with that statement, Hermione pushed away from the table and marched onto the porch, but not before helping herself to one of his cigarettes.

Someone looking into the shabby cottage from the outside would have seen a very melancholy sight indeed. For after Hermione stomped out into the mockingly beautiful day while Severus stared after her, he shook his head and placed it into his hands with jerky movements that gave away his agitation. After assuming this position for a few moments the dark potions master pushed out of his chair and paced the room quickly.

_It couldn't really be that easy could it? _He debated with himself. _She __makes__ it sound so simple. A man and a woman__ BAH__ that's not all we are. We will__ always be teacher and student, even when she's 40. But maybe just for this summer he could take what he deserve__d. He did deserve it didn't he? I__f he __really__ thought about it, no he __didn't__'__ deserve i__t. He was not a very nice man. __Plain and simple.__ But, he conceded, Hermione is a wonderful person and she wants it. After all she should get what she desires, and if __it's__ me well then I suppose I will just have to suffer for the cause. Yes, that logic worked very nicely indeed. _And it was then that a small smile graced his lips. He would wait until she returned then inform her of his decision. Just for the summer though.

A couple of hours later found Hermione creeping back inside with a brown bag in her hand. She had walked the town fuming for the better part of the morning and scared several small children with the intensity of her scowls before she calmed down enough to see his side of it. She refused to give up on him, she just wanted to have some fun after all, but she would respect him enough to build up to the subject again slowly and give him time to process what she said. She found herself at the local deli and decided to bring lunch to them today. That was how Hermione came to be back at the cottage with a lunch sack in her hands.

She had planned on surprising him with the food and apologizing for getting upset. It however, was her that was surprised when, as she entered the kitchen an arm snaked around her waist turning her and soft lips smashed against her own. Hermione gave into the sensation and kissed back hungrily, barely registering when he pulled back from her whispering "all right witch, you win. The last of the summer will be ours, and then we part ways and continue on like normal. I will be a bastard and you will annoy the daylights out of me. For now though, let us continue the task at hand."

Hermione looked up at him, her eyes dark and dilated with arousal and only managed a grunt as her lips collided with every available surface of his face. Their mouths found each other again and tongues danced a sensuous rumba against each other. Both were groaning and let their hands wander, exploring new territory. Hers feeling the sinewy muscles that rippled so unassumingly beneath his dark clothes, and his rolling over her hips and stomach up to her breasts. Hermione's breath hitched at the feel of his talented fingers roaming up her tank top. The wonderful appendages rolled her nipple between them then fluttered softly to her other breast giving it the treatment as well.

Severus was more turned on then he had ever been before, but was content to slowly drive her mad with need. That was the plan at least until he felt impatient hands tug on the zipper to his trousers and slip inside. He was hot and hard and ready for her and thrust against her hand, all patience forgotten. He kissed her earlobe and neck running his tongue over her until he could stand no more and pushed her hands away so he could begin to strip himself.

The thing about this beautiful Gryffindor is that it is always said that she is the brightest with of her age. She did not earn this title in vain as she cottoned on quickly and shimmied out of her tank and jeans. Finally, blissfully naked Severus pushed Hermione back until she reached the counter top and listened to her small squeal when he lifted her up and placed her on the cold counter top.

It was with no small amount of pleasure then that he dove between her legs with his mouth and feasted like a starved man suddenly presented with ambrosia. His licks and nibbles were driving Hermione mad. It was all too good, and how in the world did he manage to get his tongue so hard then soft in all the right places? It was not long after he began that he had her dissolved into a puddle and screaming his name mixed with other expletives. One of which Severus recognized as "for all that is right in the world Severus fuck me now. I feel as though I'll die without your cock inside me". Hearing this statement from her perfect little mouth sent a shiver straight to his balls and he wasted no time in pushing inside of her.

It was slow at first, for she was so tight it was nearly painful, but she was also one of the wettest witches he had ever been with so her natural lubrication eased the way. He sheathed himself fully inside of her and began to thrust harder and faster as she called out her demands unashamedly. Severus lifted her from the counter still inside of her and lowered them to the kitchen floor with her riding him. The tiled floor should have felt so nice against his fevered skin but he spared no notice on this sensation, focusing entirely on the minx riding him. It wasn't long before he felt her tightening around his shaft and he met her thrusts erratically pouring his seed into her while she screamed his name.

Exhausted and panting, Hermione rolled off of Severus and snuggled into him on the kitchen floor, not caring one iota where they were. "That was amazing for my first time Severus"

Severus gaped at her and made an odd choking noise while he tried valiantly to understand what she just told him. "Oh relax, I was just kidding. I should have known that even post coital I shouldn't joke with you" she chuckled.

"Hermione! You sacred me half to death, all I could think about was how I must have hurt you terribly slamming into you like that."

She grinned and a little twinkle shone in her eye as she responded to him. "I am fine and I was not a virgin, and if you ever want to lay a finger on me again, you will most certainly promise to slam into me like that again very soon."


	10. Speaking to Dumbledore

Chapter 10... Speaking to Dumbledore

The next few days flew by in a haze of passion. When looking back, the days seemed filled with nothing but tangled bodies writhing together, undulating on every surface available in the little cottage. No room was safe; the kitchen had been christened the second day and several more times since then, along with the living room, the bedrooms and even the bathrooms. Hermione had to admit that the bathroom was her favorite so far. She had no idea the water could be so erotic with soapy hands wandering endlessly over each others bodies and the way Severus' hair stuck to his face when wet was a gratifying sight indeed.

Hermione had barely had the time, to be honest with herself, the inclination to answer the letters from her friends. They were filled with the usual gossip from home and their deepest regrets that she had to spend the remainder of her summer with Snape. In actuality she was impressed with how the boys had matured while she was away. It seemed without her there to pound into their thick skulls the fact that they needed to grow up they realized they had to do it on their own. Harry had finally let his grudge with Snape die out. He still didn't like him much, and the feeling was still more then mutual, but in the end Harry decided that with the war over, there was no more room for hatred in his life.

Hermione had written to Harry and Ron about the summer so far, of course leaving out the gory details, and assured them that Professor Snape was fine, just a bit stand offish. She had no intentions of telling the boys what had been going on this summer for many many years. There was no point in starting a row when she knew it couldn't last longer then the two weeks they had left.

Truth be told Hermione spent every moment that she wasn't shagging Severus trying to talk herself out of caring for him. She promised herself when she started this that she wouldn't play the part of a silly school girl and follow him around with bright eyes and blushing. It seemed though that she underestimated his ability to hold not only a pleasant conversation, but a very riveting one as well. It also seemed as though she had underestimated the importance of said conversation to herself. She knew she couldn't allow herself to let anything slip about her feelings to Severus so she had decided to simply ignore them and enjoy the time she had left with him.

Unbeknownst to her however, Severus was fighting emotions of his own. He had stubbornly refused to believe that she was anything more to him then a beautiful and convenient piece of tail, but even he couldn't imagine going back to another year at Hogwarts without the pleasure of having her in his arms regularly.

He watched her a lot, even when they weren't coupling and he knew her mannerisms by heart now. The way she worried her bottom lip when she was thinking, the way she twirled her hair in her fingers when feeling flirtatious, and his favorite, the way she wore a skirt when she was feeling kinky were all engraved in his brain by now. She had a wild and voracious side to her that had completely thrown him for a loop and drove him very near insanity when he pondered it alone.

They had yet to sleep in the same bed longer then a quick nap after in between sex. Severus wasn't sure he could handle getting used to waking up near her and not want to carry on back home. Besides, he still struggled semi regularly with bad dreams of Albus and his disappointment, the dreams however were getting increasingly easier to push aside when he stared into her eyes.

It was with a week left to enjoy that Severus finally made a mistake. After a particularly intense bout of shagging that began in the bathroom and quickly relocated to Severus' room they lay sated side by side. Hermione wasn't usually prone to snuggling and for that Severus was grateful, but this evening she rolled to her side and tucked a stray lock of his hair behind his ear. Severus turned his head to look at her and was surprised when she silenced his lips from forming the question in his eyes when she pressed her lips against his.

This kiss was unlike the others they had shared. Up until now the other kisses were full of passion just as this was full of promise, the others heat, this kindness. He should have pulled away when he had the chance, but the kiss was too intoxicating to him. Before long he had rolled on top of her and tenderly kissed every inch of her body, worshipped every curve, and slid into her at an agonizingly slow tempo. This is where Severus Snape realized his mistake. For the first time in his life he was not shagging, but making love to a woman. A woman he couldn't have. This thought should have depressed and shamed him but at that moment Severus simply enjoyed losing himself inside another person and he came with a shout, louder and more fearsome then any before. Just for tonight, he chose to pretend and gathered Hermione in his arms and fell asleep holding her.

The next morning Severus had come to a decision and decided he needed to see Albus' portrait before they returned for good. He did net tell Hermione where or why he was leaving; only assured her that he would return the next morning. He warded the cottage heavily, gave her explicit instructions to stay inside the entire time he was gone, and left her with a mirror exactly like the one Sirius bestowed upon Harry in case she needed him.

Hermione made one last attempt to persuade him to stay. It was only a day, but with only just under a week left with him she felt she was being robbed. "What shall I do with myself while you're away Severus?"

"What do you always do when your alone Hermione?"

"I'm afraid my fingers can not substitute for you. All alone here with my head filled with images of your body against me, in me. Even now I can feel myself getting wet and you are the only thing that sates me Severus!"

"I meant read Hermione, you always have your nose stuck in a book when you are alone." he groaned, almost questioning leaving her even for the short amount of time. The thought of her alone with her legs wide open and her fingers spreading her juices around her folds nearly sent him beyond reason. He leaned forward and gave her a passionate kiss goodbye, but hurried out the door before it could develop into anything more.

Apperating to the Hogwarts gates tired him immensely but he wouldn't be swayed from the task at hand. He pushed into the school and walked towards Minerva's office giving the gargoyle the teachers' password. Upon reaching for the door to knock Severus' nerves nearly made him turn back, but the thought of returning to her without an answer was enough to turn him around and rap his knuckles firmly against the wood.

Minerva opened the door to him and her surprised look immediately turned to one of concern.

"Severus, what are you doing here? Where is Miss Granger? Is everything okay?" she rambled out in a quick stream.

"Minerva I have come to speak with you and Albus' portrait about something important. Miss Granger is fine, heavily warded and with a location spell on her that alerts me if she leaves the cabin. I have given her an enchanted mirror as well so that she can reach me if she needs to".

The look of relief on Minerva's face would have been comical if he didn't know just how worried she had been lately with death eaters still on the loose. He followed her into Albus' former office, accepted tea gratefully and sunk into a chair before her desk to wait while she called Albus to his frame. Once Albus had joined them and exchanged pleasantries with Severus and Minerva, Severus began the tale of why he was before them that day.

He told them everything, how he found Hermione at the pier that night, how they avoided each other, how once they were under the same roof their attraction became to much to fight, and how now that the summer was drawing to a close how he couldn't bare to give her up. He didn't know if he loved her he said, he had never been in love before, not real love at least just his infatuation with Lily Evans, but he knew he had never felt this way about another.

"I am so angry at myself" he stated. "I let my hormones rule my mind and now I have created a mess. I just don't think I want to be without her. We have agreed that when school starts we will sever ties with each other and she has been most understanding about why we must."

"Severus" the former headmaster began "I can't say I am pleased to hear you have bedded a student, even one as delightful and intelligent as Miss Granger though, I must confess that I am pleased to hear you have found another who can tolerate you. Miss Granger and her friends have not been children in a long time. The war has pushed them to grow up quickly and to understand truths about life and death that most adults ignore. I personally wish you the best in this and I feel no guilt in saying that since I am not longer headmaster then go for it. And please do discover the niche on the fourth floor near the tapestry of the trolls performing acrobatics. There is a portrait near there that I like to visit and I could use a thrill. Portrait life is rather boring you know…"

Upon hearing this Severus felt himself lighten considerably. He knew that he cared for Albus deeply, but he didn't realize what a weight would be off his chest upon having his blessing. One down he thought, one to go. He turned to Minerva who had that protective glint in her eye that she always got when having a discussion about her star pupil.

"Severus… I, like Albus, can not say I am pleased about this turn of events. I saw in your eyes when I visited that you were attracted to her, and who wouldn't be with her looking as she does now, but I thought you would get over it. I do however think Albus is correct in his observation of the trio's maturity and decision making skills. She is a grown woman in my eyes and if you can keep it quiet I will not forbid you from carrying on with her. Though I will tell you that if anyone catches wind of this and it becomes public then I will deny any knowledge and be forced to fire you and expel her. I can not afford to have parents believe I condone Professor/student relations. I really do not want to fire you Severus, so please do not make me"

Severus couldn't believe his ears. At that moment he felt a rush of love and gratitude to Minerva and Albus that he barely kept from welling up in his eyes. "You both have made me so happy; it was not losing my position here that gave me fear as much as knowing that I would disappoint you both. You have been my lighthouse over the years of darkness and if I did not have your blessing I would have cut all ties with her immediately"

Upon hearing this normally stoic man make such a declaration, both Albus and Minerva were feeling a warmth settle around their hearts, well in Albus' case it may have been indigestion as he had eaten an entire bowl of the lemon drops he insisted he be painted with.

"Go my boy, sleep in your quarters tonight then return to her in the morning. Sleep well Severus" Minerva said as she shoed him out the door with a smile and pat on the cheek.

A/N: Hope you all liked it! Have a great day and happy reading!


	11. He Returns to Her

Chapter 11... He Returns to Her

After wandering the halls aimlessly for an hour or two Severus had sufficiently calmed his adrenaline enough to make an attempt at sleep in his quarters. Though it was late at Hogwarts he knew it was pretty early in the states still and he decided to try to contact her through the mirror. He tapped it with his wand and whispered Hermione's name into it. The mirror swirled and changed and showed that what its twin was facing at the time was a ceiling. Oh well he thought, she must have the mirror on the coffee table somewhere.

Just as he prepared to put his own away for the night the view began to change and Severus had to turn his head away because the swirling was making him nauseous. Then he heard her sweet voice whisper back "Severus? Is that you? Is everything all right?"

"Shush Hermione, everything is fine, I just wanted to see your face."Hermione smiled sweetly at hearing this.

"Oh, where are you Severus?"

"I can't tell you yet, tomorrow when I return I will fill you on everything. Have you left the cottage at all?"

"Of course not Severus, I'm not stupid, I know about the tracking charm you put on me. Slick by the way" Severus looked mildly surprised at hearing she had caught him, but just smirked.

"Well I'll let you sleep now; I just wanted to check in. I will be apperating back pretty early for you"

"Hey Severus will you do me a favor?"

"Sure, though I'm not sure what I can do for you right now"

"Just close your eyes. You have to really do it though, I can see you." He heard a soft rustling and kept his eyes closed though he felt like a fool for sitting alone in his chambers with his eyes screwed shut. He heard her confirm that he could open his eyes and when he did he was greeted with one of the most erotic sights he had ever seen.

Hermione had propped the mirror at the end of the couch and had apparently undressed. From the angle of the mirror Severus had a clear view of her pussy spread before him up her smooth torso to her pert breasts and her head. A sexy smirk graced her lips and a groan escaped his mouth as he hardened.

He watched as she spread herself open for him and inserted finger into her tight little hole. She rubbed herself with her other hand and has soon pulled her sopping finger out of herself and was licking her juices off her hand. The fingers slipped out of her mouth and traveled over chin to her nipples which she began squeezing and twisting. She was obviously enjoying herself as she let little breathy words escape her lips every so often. Words like "fuck" and "so wet" even "Severus". Severus was entranced and he was soon releasing himself from his trousers and stroking his length. He gripped himself firmly and concentrated completely on watching Hermione until he heard her ask to see him. He stuck the mirror above him on the ceiling with a sticking charm so that she could watch all of him while he concentrated on her moans and worked on himself.

He heard her moan and looked into the mirror above him. Though he didn't release his erection he watched her face as she climbed higher and higher and finally fell over the edge into bliss screaming his name out. It was too much for him to bear and he felt his balls draw closer to his body and spill himself over his hand and onto his lap. Apparently Hermione was watching him because he heard her scream again when he came.

"Severus" she panted "I never thought masturbating could turn me on so much, but watching you cum had to be one of the sexiest thing I have ever seen"

"Likewise Hermione. Get cleaned up and rest now, I will see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Severus".

The next morning Severus had breakfast in the great hall and spent some time speaking to Minerva. He enjoyed talking to her even with the "what are you intentions?" lecture. Oh well, at least he would be prepared to answer that one if he ever met her parents. Minerva walked him to the gate and hugged him goodbye before he apparated back to Hermione. Now all he had to was convince Hermione to give an actual relationship a try during the year.

He arrived back in town by apperating into a dark alley. The sun was just beginning to rise and he was glad that muggle businesses started early because he had things to buy. Severus walked through the streets and bought fresh ingredients for breakfast and a large bouquet of tulips. He didn't miss the irony that for the first time in his life he was trying to romance someone and she was half his age.

Hermione woke in the morning to the sound of a door closing and was instantly wide awake. Severus said he would be back this morning, but one could never be too careful, after all she was a hunted woman. She crept downstairs stealthily, foregoing her slippers to ensure her quietest descent and held her wand at the ready. She decided to take a trick from her second year with the basilisk and used her enchanted mirror to peer around the corners before blindly running into a bad situation.

What she saw in the mirror made her blood run cold. They had found her all alone and venerable. And now she had to defend herself against Bellatrix Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, and Rudolphus Lestrange. She crept silently back into the hall and slipped into a coat closet where she used the mirror to contact Severus and tell him that they had been found. He told he would be there momentarily and she promised to hide. She had no intention of running out there with three of the most feared death eaters creeping around.

Hermione huddle into the back of the cupboard and clutched her wand and hoping she would hear when Severus arrived so that she could jump out and surprise the three. Just then the door to her hiding place swung open and the taunting voice of Bellatrix called out "come out come out you little mud blood bitch". Hermione had been surprised but had luckily pushed herself behind some old coats for camouflage and shot a stunner at her before she could react.

Hearing the yelp of surprise that Bellatrix issued had alerted the other two and sent Rudolphus and Lucius running towards her. Apparently they were viscous but none to smart as they walked directly in the line of fire for Hermione and she dropped the two of them like stones as well. "Well, that was surprisingly easy" she thought and stepped over their forms to bind them. Just as her ropes were wrapping around the final death eater, Severus burst in the door looking slightly insane with a grocery bag and flowers held in one hand and his wand emitting angry looking sparks in the other.

He looked a bit confused to find Hermione standing over three stunned and bound death eaters but got over it quickly enough. He ran to Hermione and wrapped himself around her wanting to cry with relief while he kissed her all over her face. He separated himself from her and sent his Patronus to Minerva with word of the attack and told her to bring plenty of aurors then turned to Hermione with intent to chew her out for not staying hidden.

Before he could open his mouth however Hermione had begun rambling out the whole story. Pale and shaking she sent three more stunners at them while she talked and Severus collected their wands.

"Hermione, I am so sorry this happened. My wards should have been better, I shouldn't have left you." Severus whispered.

"Severus, it's all over with now. It wasn't your wards that were bad, I'm pretty sure they just knew your magical signature well enough to dismantle them. Who knows how long they were out there working on them? I am so glad your back Severus, and I feel a little better knowing even if I didn't get to fight in the final battle at least I got to take down a few death eaters."

"The aurors are on their way Hermione, why don't you go upstairs and get cleaned up and I will make us some food while we wait for them."

Hermione acquiesced to him easily enough and climbed the stair to perform her morning ritual. She gathered her things together and climbed into the shower. Once inside the safety of the bathroom with the water running over her face she allowed herself to break down. Tears leaked down her face and she sobbed almost uncontrollably. She was so scared, it was over now she knew, but she was terrified for so many reasons. What if they hadn't in a moment of stupidity rushed over to Bellatrix? What if Severus had gotten their one minute earlier and had been caught in battle with them? He could have been killed. She could have been killed.

She took a few moments to collect herself and turned the water on cold, willing away the puffiness around her eyes from crying. She was Hermione Granger and she wouldn't let a bunch of idiot aurors see her cry. She had an Order of Merlin and that she received when she was only 17, she was brave and she could handle some snotty death eaters. She climbed out of the shower and dried her hair into ringlets, put on a small amount of makeup and slipped on one of her most mature outfits, a pair of loose black pants and a tight red camisole under a silver cardigan. She was ready to face them now.

She walked down the stairs to find that the aurors had arrived and were questioning Severus over breakfast. Hermione looked to where they had left the death eaters and was glad to find that they had been removed. She didn't think she could stand to look at them. She sat at the table near Severus but was careful not to sit to near him and mentally reminded herself that in front of these people he was Professor Snape, not Severus.

Severus wordlessly handed her a cup of coffee and pushed an omelet onto her plate. "Thank you Sir" she mumbled mostly to let him know she was in character despite the ordeal. She was pleased to see that the aurors they sent were Tonks and Kingsley and they had brought Arthur Weasley along. She stood again and accepted hugs from around the group and saved her special smile for Arthur. He would always have a special place in her heart as the kind hearted dad to the Weasley brood.

She smiled at the group and ran through her story again. She answered all their questions and agreed to testify against the three.

"Well Hermione" said Tonks "that was the last three at large. We are still not sure if they were here for you or for Severus but now that we have heard what Bellatrix said to you I have suspicions that there is a leak somewhere. I think someone let them know that you were here with him."

"Well" Hermione replied "I am glad that they have been caught and I am now ready to move on with my life. It ridiculous to have to hide from them, but just to be sure I think I will lay low here for a couple more days until school starts and you guys find the leak."

Hermione and Severus stood and exchanged handshakes and hugs with the group then walked them towards the front so they could disapparate. Hermione let out a sigh of relief and once inside turned back towards Severus and kissed him fiercely.

"I suppose I should call you my knight in shining armor, Severus. Thank you so much for helping me deal with the aurors. I really don't think I could have faced them alone."

"Its no problem Milady" He said playfully "I would help to you any day. And…" Severus then walked over and produced the bouquet of flowers from the cabinet "these are for you".

"Oh Severus, thank you so much. You didn't have to do that, but I love tulips they are my favorite."

"Maybe we should sit down Hermione. There is something I want to talk to you about".

Upon hearing these very ominous words Hermione began immediately worrying her bottom lip. He should know that she was going to accept that they had to sever ties in a few days, she just wanted to enjoy the little time they had left. Oh well, here it comes anyway…


	12. Making Their Way Back Home

Chapter 12 … Making Their Way Back Home

Hermione and Severus sat across from each other in the comfortable armchairs in the living room. Hermione looked as though she had swallowed a lemon and Severus thought it was adorable. He did however feel a bit guilty because she obviously thought he was trying to end it. Her emotions were always so easy to read when she had worked herself up. He would have to speak with her about that. It couldn't happen in the presence of certain others around the school. Like her friends who do anything to see him sacked.

"Hermione, I said we need to talk, and we do, but before we get started let me say that you should stop worrying this isn't a bad issue, just a sensitive one." Hermione nodded her understanding to Severus who took a deep breath and carried on. "Now that we have that out of the way, I suppose I should start at the beginning. When I left you here alone, I went to Hogwarts to speak to Minerva. I also had a word with Albus' portrait. Hermione, I told them everything that happened this summer." Hermione's eyes grew wide upon hearing this and she immediately began to protest and question his sanity.

"I know…" he interrupted "that it sounds like a bad idea, but this is the summer and you are of age. What goes on here is Minerva's business, but not the Headmistress'. What I mean to say Hermione, is that it has nothing to do with the school, and the only way Minerva has any say in what happened is because she is my friend and loves us both like family." Hermione's eyes misted a bit upon hearing this. Professor McGonagall was very important to her too, like a favorite aunt.

"I made the decision to do this because of some feelings I had been having concerning Albus' and Minerva's disappointment in me about this situation. I was relieved to hear however, that they not only respected my intentions with you, but also your maturity and decision making skills."

Hermione had listened patiently through his speech thus far, but felt the need to ask him a question now. It was the one question she knew she may not like the answer to very much at all, but she needed to know. "I am glad to hear that Severus, but what ARE your intentions towards me?"

"I'm getting to that witch. Give me time. So as I was saying, they did not doubt us and it lifted a huge weight off of my chest about our…situation. It did however; lead me to the next step in my thought process. I know that there are technically no "rules" about professors and of age students carrying on, but it is very much frowned upon, so much so that if word got out, I would still be in danger of losing my position at the school. Not that I would be terribly disappointed about that, but I would prefer to resign instead of being sacked." He stopped and took a breath willing himself to speak clearly about the next part. Needing her to understand how much he had come to care for her. He conjured them up a pot of tea and continued on. Hoping this next part came out correctly and eloquently.

"Hermione, I went there to ask them what they would think about me pursuing you during the school year. I have come to care about you and I just don't think I want to be without you until after you graduate from school. After all you may come to your senses and decided I'm too old and ugly for you." Hermione's eyes grew as wide as saucers, and a blush crept up her cheeks when she heard this.

Severus saw her expression and his heart plummeted, believing it to be a negative response. Therefore, he was thrown off guard when a mass of auburn curls flew at him and kissed every available surface of his skin.

"Oh Severus! You can't know how grateful I am to hear you say that. I have spent the last three weeks talking myself out of caring for you because I knew it had to end. I can't believe you asked the Headmistress about us! Do we have her blessing?"

"We do Hermione. However as I said before it's highly frowned upon and it has been made clear that if we are discovered then we are on our own, the Headmistress will not risk the schools reputation to cover for us."

"I never expected her to. That she is willing to turn a blind eye to us is more then I could ever hope for. We just need to think of an adequate reason for me spending extra time with you. I am head girl this year, so I will have private quarters, but I am not going to risk my reputation getting detentions with you even if you can shag me from behind while I'm scrubbing cauldrons." And with that Hermione did the most Hermione like thing she knew how to do. She stared off into space mumbling to herself and planning how exactly they could work off their deception.

Severus was so happy that her feelings were returned that his heart felt like it would burst. He had never felt that way before, not even with the dark lord fell. All he felt then was relief. Though he would admit that his happiness was mingle with arousal as his mind perused the picture of him taking her as she leaned over his sinks scrubbing cauldrons.

Night crept upon them and after many bouts of shagging all over the house, Severus came up with the idea to offer Hermione and apprenticeship in potions. It seemed a bit obvious to those who knew Severus, for he hadn't taken on one since the year after he became a Potions Master. It was widely known that the first attempt didn't end too well, with his apprentice not handling his caustic attitude very well. However, everyone who knew Hermione knew how exceptional she was and that her temper could be just as caustic. She surprised Severus when he brought up the idea however, by stating that she really intended to learn master level potions form him this year so she could apply for her Potions Mastership after graduation. He was quite proud of her at that moment.

When they awoke the next morning it was decided that they would need to leave later that day in order to collect Hermione's possessions from her parent's home. They would stay the night there together and he would drop her off at Platform 9 ¾ so that she could ride it with her friends one last time. Severus would apperate to the school and they would, to all outward appearances act as though nothing happened. Severus would announce that he had decided to take on Hermione as an apprentice during the feast and everything would proceed normally from there.

Severus and Hermione spent the morning collecting their belongings and packing them away. They were both amazed at just how sad it felt to be preparing to leave their little seaside retreat. Over the summer it had become something like a home for the two of them. It had become far too easy to play house during the month that both of them expected to be hell at the beginning.

With all of their possessions neatly crammed into trunks, Severus and Hermione shrunk their luggage and pocketed it. Hermione, who had never before apperated such a long distance was informed that to side along apperate her on such a long journey would drain him of his powers too much to be restored before term. Therefore, they apperated to Salem, Massachusetts, which was the closest wizarding town they knew of in America.

Once there, the plan was to floo to Arabella Figg's house and apperate again to Hermione's house for the night. In actuality it was harder to pull Hermione by the wonderful museums in Salem then anticipated, so an hour later then scheduled they tucked themselves into the nearest public fireplace and were on their dirty and dizzy way to Mrs. Figg's.

After arriving intact and unwinding themselves from her 45 cats, Hermione and Severus stepped outside to the street, walked a couple of blocks to the nearest shopping plaza and grabbed a bite to eat before apperating a final time.

Finally, in what seemed like hours and hours later, which in all actually it had only been about 2 ½ hours since leaving Maine, including dinner, they arrived in the back garden of the Granger's modest home. It was large and white with a stone walkway in the back as well as the front and had wildflowers growing all over. It seemed fitting to him, knowing what he did about Hermione. It was sturdy and unassuming, but with the gardens all about, it beautiful in an untamed way. Wow, thought Severus I need to stop thinking these things lest they accidently come out my mouth.

Hermione let them in with her key and gave Severus the Knut tour. She had decided they would share the guest room tonight as her parents would still be in hiding until she reached school and the three death eaters were sentenced for good. With everything packed for school and her orders for her new school supplies sent out by Severus' owl, they settled in for what may be their last full night together for the rest of the school year.


	13. The Hogwarts Express

Chapter 13 … The Hogwarts Express

The morning that they were to leave Hermione and Severus laid in bed a bit longer then they should have. Luckily she could apperate to the station, so they had a bit longer to lounge about and be morose. For the first time in her life, Hermione was not looking forward to school. She had more going for her this year then any other year and she was excited about that, but she didn't want the summer to end, it had just flown by.

Severus of course was never excited about going back to teaching, but at least this year for the first time he had something to look forward to. Clearing his head of his musings he gently disentangled himself from Hermione and stepped around to lift her out of bed himself. They spoke of her friends over breakfast and what she should tell them concerning Severus and herself.

Hermione, who had thought of this at length since they discussed carrying on with each other, spoke of her thoughts on the matter. "I have decided to leave the boys in the dark for now. I trust them completely and I know that in the end they will support us, but I am not sure I want everyone to know yet; we are too new to have to undergo an inquisition about this. It's been awhile since Harry has hated you Severus, but he doesn't know you enough to feel anything other then a reason to stay away from you. Ron and I, well we tried to make it work once between us, but it was like kissing a brother and at least we ended it well. We are stronger now then we were when we thought we cared for each other romantically. The three of us are stronger then siblings and families don't turn each other away. I will know when the time is right to tell them."

"And what of Miss Weasley?"

"I will tell her when I can get her alone. Ginny is like her mother, very intuitive and even if I choose to keep her in the dark she will figure it out quickly enough. If I let her in on it on my own she will respect our privacy."

"You speak highly of her Hermione."

"Yes I do. She has been my rock before. Sometimes it got a bit difficult to be the estrogen of the trio, she understood that and never showed jealousy over my closeness to Harry." Severus nodded his understanding and looked thoughtful for a few moments before announcing that they must go. They kissed each other goodbye at the house because they couldn't do it in the platform and with a crack arrived at the train.

Hermione looked around for her friends and pointedly ignored the not so subtle whispers of Hermione's return and the odd sight of Professor Snape at her side. He un shrunk her trunks and helped her find a compartment on the train to store them. He nodded his head to her and left the train with not so much as a by your leave. Though Hermione knew the reason for it she couldn't help but be a bit disappointed.

She settled herself into the train compartment to wait for the friends she hadn't seen in months. She didn't have to wait long before the compartment door swung open and her friends marched in a swinging her up in their arms.

"Oh Mione! We were so worried about you. We looked for you for weeks before we got word from Professor McGonagall about you" Harry panted, out of breath from picking her up and swinging her about so vigorously.

Ron, who like she had told Severus, had quickly become one of her greatest confidants after their "break up" was holding her in his arms and hadn't said much yet. He just kissed her cheek and sighed in relief upon seeing her whole and well. Hermione smiled a beaming smile at him and turned to Ginny.

As horrible as it seemed to Hermione, the war seemed to have done some good for Ginny. She had grown up considerably and held herself with not the rash confidence of youth, but now with the confidence of a woman who knew what she wanted out of life. It looked good on her and Hermione found herself almost envious of the younger girls newfound self assuredness and beauty.

Hermione and Ginny embraced and kissed each other a small hello that left Harry squirming in his seat and had Ron looking a bit uncomfterable. It had been a tradition between the two girls to kiss each other hello and goodbye when they were leaving and not seeing each other for awhile. It was something so platonic they didn't even think of it any longer, but in the last year or so it had been taken notice by some of the guys in their tower who apparently thought it was hot. Now they did it a bit more often just to tease them.

As the train rumbled away from the station the group settled in for the journey and listened to each others tales of the summer. Now that Harry no longer had to return to the Dursley's he spent his time with the Weasleys for one final glorious carefree summer and flooed frequently to Grimmauld Place to prepare it for his inhabitance after graduation. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were all invited to move in as soon as school was done.

This seemed like a good transition point to Hermione who replied to the invitation accordingly. "I would love to keep a room for weekends and some holidays if its okay, but I am not sure if I can live there or if I am expected to live with my master." The other three looked confused when hearing about a "master" and their minds went immediately in the gutter. Seeing their faces made Hermione laugh and she hurried to correct herself.

"I'm sorry I could have put that better. What I meant was that Professor Snape has agreed to take me on as his apprentice this year. If it goes well I will move in with another Potions Master at the end of the year to complete another year of study before I can apply to become a Potions Mistress myself. I hope to have Professor Snape take me on again, he is the foremost master in the United Kingdom and he hasn't taken on an apprentice in 16 years, it would look very good for me. So you see he will be my 'master', as in Potions Master. "

The group laughed off the misunderstanding and congratulated Hermione in her success, if you could count spending extra time alone with Snape success. They supposed though if she could spend a summer alone with him and come back in one piece then she could handle an apprenticeship.

They spent the remainder of the trip laughing and joking and for the first time since Voldemort's return then downfall, acting like teenagers. It was all too soon that the train pulled into Hogsmeade and they were donning their school robes and trudging off the train and towards the thestral carriages. It was a shame how many students could see the thestrals now, even Hermione who wasn't in the final battle had seen her share of death and destruction.

They boarded the carriages waving hello at students they had missed and scooted over so Neville and Luna could squish into a carriage with them. Before long they were at Hogwarts and the group took a collective breath at being home after a long hard summer for everyone. It wasn't long before they took their places in the great hall and hung their heads sadly at the missing students. Slytherin was hit especially hard and you couldn't help but feel a bit sad for them. It must have been difficult to have been raised with a set of morals that you have believed since birth only to be proved wrong. It was an expensive lesson to learn that was paid with more then one family being torn apart by war and death.

Hermione's gaze drifted over Malfoy's form and she couldn't help but feel a little shocked at his expression when they locked eyes. Hermione had expected to see hatred and accusations in his eyes and found the sadness and resignation almost scarier then the hatred. What was a Malfoy without his arrogance? She made the decision then to speak to her friends about staying off his back this year and she would try to reconcile with him. It's hard to think for yourself when someone else's ideals are constantly being shoved down your throat. They exchanged glances for a few seconds longer and Hermione surprised Draco by nodding and giving him a small reassuring smile.

She was about to turn to her friends and relay the message, however when she turned to open her mouth her friends were already staring at her and they each nodded silently to Draco in turn, silently accepting his hardship along with theirs. She was so proud of her friends for doing what so many full grown wizards failed to do. Forgive. The biggest step to a unified magical world lay with them, and they were obviously planning to do their part in helping their own and the next generations unite.

At the front of the room the glances between the two rival houses did not go unnoticed and more then one teacher found themselves with misted over eyes in pride at the maturity and forgiveness the students had decided to bestow upon each other. Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and looked around the great hall, ensuring herself that the new first years had settled in at their new house tables. Stood at the podium and everyone felt a bit nostalgic at seeing the new Headmistress standing where they had all watched the great Dumbledore stand for so many years.

"Welcome back students and welcome to the new ones. For those of you new students from wizarding families and those of you that have graced the halls of Hogwarts before know the obstacle we have overcome as a community to allow us to continue to study here today. Many of you older students stood tall and proud among us as we fought for ourselves and for each other and many in the school had families torn apart and lost to the war. Times have been hard and we have lost many, but as in every great war throughout history there are great survivors. As survivors we have a responsibility to carry on and hold our heads high. We will walk through the rest of our lives carrying the torch of tolerance and understanding and we will embrace each other in respect and love. As I stand here and look out at every face in this school, I see the greatest generation of students Hogwarts has ever seen and I am proud to be Headmistress. I would now like you all to direct your attention to our new Head Boy and Girl as I would like them to help reveal the new memorial dedicated to all those who gave their lives for the fight."

Hermione stood and made her way to Professor McGonagall and looked around the hall, pleasantly surprised to see Draco make his was over with his Head Boy badge pinned on his robes. Hermione was happy to see that Professor McGonagall had stood behind the Slytherin students as well, and thought the united front of Gryffindor and Slytherin head students would send a powerful message to the younger students.

Together they smiled at each other and grasped hands Draco holding a velvet drape aside while Hermione pulled the cord releasing the covering. It was a powerful message to see a muggle born witch and the son of a death eater standing united to honor the lives and deaths of the brave souls lost at the hands of Voldemort and the evil he spread amongst the world. The memorial was spectacular with a huge painting of all those lost in the war, the first and last, was hung on the wall above a large marble fountain that on one side honored all those lost and on the other honored all those who contributed to the light. Hermione found tears stinging her eyes. It was a perfect blend of honoring death and celebrating life and the student body stood and bowed their heads, many openly crying as they showed their thanks the only way they knew how.

Hermione and Draco made their way back to their seats and looked toward the head table showing the new Headmistress respect as an example for the other students. Slowly other students collected themselves and diverted their attention once again to the front. Professor McGonagall wiped her eyes on her sleeve, took a deep breath and continued on.

"And now we shall speak of death and sadness no more. I have the honor of congratulating Miss Hermione Granger, our head girl in securing an apprenticeship with Professor Snape and Draco Malfoy our Head Boy in securing one with Professor Flitwick. Congratulations to our Head Boy and Girl and I ask them to please stay behind so that I may speak to them. To the rest of you, enjoy your feast and please check the extensive list on Mr. Filch's door to inform yourselves of banned items.

The feast as always was excellent and it was with full bellies and fuller hearts that the students, led by prefects, made their way to their common rooms for the night. Draco and Hermione stayed behind to talk to the Professors and were informed of their new living arrangements.

"Your quarters will be located in a central location in the middle of the four houses so that you are easily accessible to all students in need, not just those from your own houses. You will share a common room, but you will each have separate rooms and bathrooms. Now, the students will be informed of where your quarters are located, but not your passwords, so your portrait will take messages if you are absent and inform you of visitors if you are there." Professor McGonagall explained while she walked them along with Professors Snape and Flitwick towards their new rooms.

They arrived at a huge portrait of a sea captain sitting in the bow of his ship with a wooden leg. He kind of reminded Hermione of Mad Eye Moody.

"All right you two, think of a password and let us know, I will make sure all the teachers have the password to your common area." Hermione and Draco put their heads together and after a couple of seconds came back with the password and informed the Professors.

The door swung open to reveal a tasteful common room, much like the respective house common rooms, done in creams and browns and blues. There was a large cushy brown couch in a suede material sitting in front of the fire and matching armchairs placed next to that. There were two desks placed facing each other in a dark cherry wood that matched other accents around the room. Both Hermione and Draco were amazed at their new quarters and turned around to thank the Headmistress.

"Well, you both certainly deserve it, and I would like you both to know how proud I am that you set aside your previous animosities to be role models for the other students. Now Draco, Professor Flitwick will show you your room and discuss your new apprenticeship schedule, Hermione the same goes for you and Professor Snape" Hermione could swear she saw the slightest wink from Professor McGonagall. Hermione thought it was a bit odd that they were discussing this tonight and not tomorrow in their offices, but she wasn't going to complain.

They bade Professor McGonagall goodnight, Draco and Snape shook hands and Hermione hugged Flitwick goodnight and each professor/student duo headed towards their rooms.

Hermione and Severus climbed the stairs towards her room and soon came across another portrait this one with pirates. Hermione giggled and gave the password "swashbuckler" while Severus glared at her then rolled his eyes. She would be sorely mistaken if she though he was going to use the term swashbuckler when trying to access her room.

Like downstairs, the door swung open to reveal a room and it took Hermione's breath away. It was decorated in earth tones and neutrals with bold splashes of color set around the room randomly. The wall were a dark khaki with a navy blue couch in front of the fireplace a huge black sleigh bed with a navy comforter. The dresser and the bookshelves were black lacquer as well lending a very sophisticated air to the room. Hermione's things were set up already and her books were threatening to overtake the bookcase. She plopped on the bed and patted the spot next to her.

"Hermione we just have to talk about what days you are going to apprentice, we shouldn't give Flitwick cause for suspicion."

"Your right Severus, well you just go ahead and throw out some ideas, and I will listen while I get ready for bed." Severus was watching her suspiciously but continued to talk, keeping his eyes on her the entire time.

Hermione rolled off the bed and walked over to her dresser pulling out a boy undies and a tank top. She turned and responded to Severus' comments and kept the conversation up while walking over to a table placed her I Pod into a speaker stand she had enchanted to work in Hogwarts. It started to beat out a slow and steady rhythm and she unconsciously swayed her hip to the music while she peeled off her layers of clothes. Severus was slowly trailing off in his speech, concentrating on watching her strip tease.

He snapped out of it when Hermione knelt before him in a tiny pink tank top and purple and pink stripes boy shorts. He was enthralled with her pert body and knew he was done for when her hand pulled his erection free and wasted no time in licking him from balls to head then blowing cool air over his throbbing cock. She took a moment to swirl the tongue over the weeping head then surprised him by swiftly changing direction and sucking his balls into her hot mouth swirling her tongue across them.

Severus threw his head back and groaned bucking his hips until she took him in her mouth and sucked, running her tongue all over him while she took nearly all of him and pulled back again. It only took a few moments of intense head before Severus had fisted his hand in her hair and was groaning as he shot his seed into her throat.

"So" she said standing up "that's Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday for our lessons, right Severus?" Severus just grunted and nodded his head before catching his breath and tucking himself back into his trousers.

"You are a little Minx, you know that? I can only hope Filius Flitwick doesn't come down looking as happy as I do or I may have to have a talk with my Godson."

A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for all the reviews I really appreciate the feedback! I got some great tips and some even better ideas, and I really think they will help take the story in a great direction! So I have a question to ask about an idea I had and I want to get some opinions on it. I was thinking about eventually trying to write in a drunken threesome between Ginny, Hermione, and Severus. I will keep it tasteful and it won't be a major point in the story just something I wanted to try writing. Anyway, let me know! I love you all!


	14. First Week Back

Chapter 14... First Week Back

Breakfast the next morning was a rambunctious affair. The students were comparing schedules and everyone was glad to see students hopping from different house tables to socialize. Hermione walked into the great hall and threw a reassuring smile towards her friends as well as a quick glance under her lashes towards the head table and Severus. She surprised everyone however, by making her way towards the Slytherin table and Draco.

Draco was sitting at the end of the table closest to the professors and looked rather sad sitting all alone. Blaise Zabini and Millicent Bulstrode were near him and though they didn't look malicious they weren't making an attempt to socialize with him. Hermione made her way over to Draco and cleared her throat.

"Morning Draco may I sit down?" He looked a bit suspicious at the friendly tone. It was all well and good to show the school a united front and he really was sorry that he had said and done the tings he had, but he didn't think she would actually want anything to do with him.

"Sure, it's not like the table is crammed." Hermione smiled warmly at him and slid neatly onto the bench next to him.

"Draco, I just wanted to say that this year is going to be hard on us for a lot reasons. Between NEWTS, our apprenticeships, and healing after the war we don't need to make things more difficult on ourselves. The only great thing about the war was that it used up all my anger and hate and I now you and I get a clean slate. We can ignore our history and start again and then I can find out if you're an ass normally or if it was just a pre war kind of thing." Draco smiled weakly at her attempt at humor but looked a little confused by her speech.

"Hermione, I think that's a great idea and I am so happy you feel that way but my dad tried to kill you less then a week ago. My family is responsible for some of the worst things that occurred during the war. The worst part is I still love them, they are horrible and despicable, but they love me and I love them."

"Draco you shouldn't be ashamed of loving your parents. Think about it this way, you hated me for six years because of my blood which wasn't anything I could control and I hated you back for that. You got over your prejudices about my parentage and I will certainly get over mine about yours. Draco your father tried to hurt me, not you. Why don't you come over and sit with us at the Gryffindor table?"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea Hermione" he said looking over at her three friends.

"Draco I will be with you the whole time and just so you know they are as sick of prejudice and hatred as I am. I think they will give you a chance and if not, well then I will stand behind you the whole time and sit at Slytherin table for the rest of the year."

Draco was about to reply when the bell for the first class of the day rang. Hermione just smiled and him and said "lunch then" and walked away.

The first half of the day flew by and before she knew it lunch had rolled around. She stood by the entrance to the great hall and waited for Draco. Luckily she had the opportunity earlier in Defense to let Harry and Ron know that she was planning on having Draco sit with them. She was quite proud at their reaction to the news; they were obviously a little suspicious, but more then willing to give him a chance.

Draco walked in the door and Hermione nearly made him jump out of his skin when she grabbed his arm unexpectedly.

"Are you ready hun? You can do this, I'll be with you" Hermione soothed. They made their way over to the Gryffindor table and Hermione smiled winningly at her friends as they slid down to make room for both of them. She felt Draco relax under her touch and she let his arm go as they sat.

The five of them spent an enjoyable lunch laughing, talking, and getting reacquainted with each other in a whole new light. They were a long way from being best friends with Draco, but today was an enormous step. They group stood and made their way out of the hall together before separating for classes. Ginny, being a year younger, had her own schedule, but the other four made their way to their first potions class of the year.

They walked in the classroom took one long table all together, Harry and Ron partnering and Draco and Hermione working together for once. She usually partnered with Neville, but he wasn't accepted in to NEWT level potion. Hermione hated to admit it, but secretly she was thrilled. No more wasting her time with hissing instructions.

The door to the dungeons slammed open signaling Severus' trademark entrance and Hermione had to duck her head to keep her smile from showing. It was hard to act intimidated when she had his cock in her mouth last night. He stalked to the front of the room and wrote instructions on the board while hissing things for them to copy into their notes. He let them catch up with their notes before stepping to the middle of the room and giving his start of the year lecture.

"If each of you look around, you will notice how small my advanced potions class is. I have only taken the best of you in though I am not quite sure how some of you made it" he hissed while looking at Harry and Ron. Hermione couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Severus; after all without her tutoring he would have been blissfully rid of them by now. He could cope with another year though, after all Ron and Harry needed this class to become aurors.

"I do not tolerate mistakes in this class. Unlike in previous years, adding a wrong ingredient or rushing your potion will not cause an insignificant explosion, but may kill all of us. We are working with volatile substances her. Being a dunderhead is not an acceptable excuse any longer. Hogwarts potions curriculum is more advanced then any of the other schools, and by the time you graduate most of you will be able to brew potions that other witches and wizards can only dream about. Now, brew the potion on the board. You have one hour. Begin."

The class scrambled to do as they were told and though the potion was indeed more difficult then any brewed before, it seemed the students took Snape's warning to heart and there were not accidents. By the end of class everyone had stoppered a sample of their potion and set it on his desk. After the bell rang and the class was walking out Severus called to Hermione.

"Miss Granger please arrive after dinner this evening to begin your apprenticeship, there is no need to wear your uniform, but wear clothes that will not get in the way of brewing." Hermione nodded her understanding and looking around to make sure they were alone, threw a saucy wink over her shoulder and swayed her hips enticingly as she walked out of the classroom. Severus caught himself grinning and had to quickly scowl less a student see him smile.

Dinner flew by with Draco once more joining the gang at the Gryffindor table, but not without threats that if this kept up then they were going to have to make an appearance at the Slytherin side of the hall. After all, he couldn't let people think he was going soft. They shared a good natured laugh at this but promised to sit in the "snake pit" sometime soon.

After dinner Hermione made her way to potions classroom and knocked. They had decided that unless they were in Severus' quarters or completely sure they were alone they would keep the façade of master and apprentice. They had no wish to test the kindness of Minerva.

"Enter"

"Good evening sir" and looking around his office to ensure they were alone she quickly added "would you like me bent over your desk or straddling you in your chair?" He blanched at her crassness then set a small scowl on his features and replied. "I see that I have missed out on a very interesting side of your sexuality Hermione. If you want me to take you amongst jars of pickled specimens you must be kinkier then I thought."

"Oh Severus, you know I only care about one pickled specimen!" He looked a bit affronted at this statement and pierced Hermione with a withering glare.

"Did you just refer to my Johnson as a 'pickled' specimen?" Hermione giggled in responce.

"Did you just refer to your cock as a 'Johnson'?" He quirked his eyebrow at her sassiness and decided to move onto the subject of the apprenticeship before things got too out of hand like last night, not that he was complaining. He would never get sick of seeing her mouth stuffed with his cock. He shifted in his chair a bit, not wanting Hermione to get sight of the erection he was now sporting thanks to the memory of last night. She was like a bloodhound; she could sniff out his erection before he even knew he had one.

He willed his voice not to come out weak or hoarse and was happy that it sounded somewhat normal when he began speaking. "I think it would be easier to get to the tasks required for your apprenticeship first thing when we meet so that we don't get too…sidetracked otherwise. Sundays and Mondays we will be discussing theories, going over notes, and generally researching. Wednesdays and Friday we will be brewing unless we otherwise need Fridays and Sundays for collecting ingredients. As I'm sure you know there are certain ingredients that I prefer to gather on my own and of course you will be accompanying me." Hermione looked excited at the prospect of leaving school to gather supplies. Her head was immediately filled with images of moonlit walks through caves, around mountains, and into valleys with Severus by her side. She was shaken from her fantasies as Severus began speaking again.

"Now, to the next order of business. Your birthday is the 19th of this month, correct?" She looked surprised that he knew this and blushed prettily at the attention.

"Today is Monday the 1st so that means it falls on a Saturday this year. We will celebrate on Friday when you are scheduled to work with me." He smiled at her and ran his thumb over her bottom lip lovingly. However as quick as he began the show of affection, it stopped. "I think that that is all for the evening Hermione. I wish terribly that you could stay with me tonight, but I have to share the traditional nightcap with the rest of the staff. Albus started it a long time ago and for years we have been doing it at the end of the first day of the school year. We have decided to keep the tradition alive in his memory."

"Oh, I understand" Hermione stated, though in truth she was a bit disappointed. Well, I am just going to have to get used to it. After all, she chided herself silently; originally we were not going to keep seeing each other at all. She felt a bit better after her mental pep talk and managed to grace him with a bright smile before kissing him goodnight.

It wasn't quite curfew she noticed as she left, so she decided to stop by Gryffindor tower to speak to Ginny and the boys before heading back to her rooms to get some reading done. Hermione walked into the common room and found the three sitting in a corner of the room at a table working on their homework. Apparently with Hermione not around Ginny had promoted herself to do the nightly whip cracking for the boys. Hermione smile and walked towards them.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"Hey Hermione" they chorused together. Ron was the first to ask how her apprenticeship had gone.

"It was great guys, though we didn't do anything tonight, just discussed what we would do on what days and what's expected of me. You know all that rubbish. I just wanted to stop by and say hello. I was thinking that it would be fun if you guys came to see my room on Saturday. I don't have anything going on that day. I figured we could have dinner in my rooms and hang out for awhile then Ginny if you'd like you could spend the night. What do you think guys?" All of them agreed and thought it would be a lot of fun.

Hermione bade them goodnight and made her way back to her rooms. When the portrait swung open to the common room and she stepped through she was surprised to find that Blaise and Millicent were in the common room. She wasn't too happy with the way they treated Draco at breakfast that morning so she issued a tight hello and turned away. She was halfway up the stairs before she heard Draco calling for her.

"Hermione will you come down here for a moment, we need to talk" Hermione reluctantly turned around and made her way back down the stairs with a sigh. Draco patted the spot next to him on the couch and she sat giving him all her attention.

"Hermione, Blaise and Millicent have apologized to me for their behavior. The thing you need to understand about them is that even though they are in Slytherin they never supported the Dark Lord. Their parents told them to play along with our antics because they feared for their safety. When the war ended they let everyone know their true allegiances, but they assumed I was the bastard they always thought I was. They weren't renouncing me because I was the good guy Hermione. They were doing it because they though I was another bad guy."

Hermione looked surprised at this new information but her eyes softened immediately when she looked at Blaise and Millicent. Blaise stood and shook Hermione's hand smiling at her and before she could stop herself she had smiled back warmly. When Millicent approached, the guys were surprised to see them throw their arms around each other.

"I am so glad to hear that you guys. I wasn't trying to be a bitch, but I felt bad for Draco. We have all lost so much this war; I forgot that for a moment. Saturday Harry, Ron, and Ginny are coming for dinner and Ginny is going to spend the night. You should come as well and have dinner with us and Millicent you're more then welcome to stay the night as well." Millicent smiled and said she would love to. It was decided they would come around 6 for dinner. Hermione hugged them all goodbye and once again climbed the stairs towards her room.

It was a long first day back, but she felt that a lot was accomplished. She sighed in contentment and made her way into her room. She decided a bath was in order and filled her tub with scented foams that were so dense she couldn't see the water underneath them. Next she slipped off her clothes (the ones she wore for brewing, which they didn't do she huffed) and sank into the hot bath water. After relaxing and reading for awhile she saw to her hair and shaved her legs then stepped out of the bath.

When Hermione slipped in between the covers of her bed and was surprised when her body hit something solid. She looked up startled and was surprised to be looking into the face of her very own potions master.

"Hello" he purred "Minerva connected our floos so we could be more discreet. I decided to check it out. Now budge up, if I am staying here all night you're going to have to share more then a quarter of the bed."

"You're staying all night?"

"Of course. I also wanted to let you know just how proud I am of you for bringing the students together. In one day you have managed to do more for inter house unity then I have seen the entire time I have been at Hogwarts as a student or professor. You are truly an amazing woman. Goodnight Hermione my love."

Hermione sucked in a breath at hearing him refer to her as his love, but grinned broadly, kissed him deeply, and wrapped herself around him to drift into a contended sleep.

The first week back flew by quickly and before she knew it Hermione was preparing to have dinner guests on Saturday. She was happy everyone was trying to get along, but hope their personalities were compatible enough to form true friendships. Well, here goes nothing she thought when the portrait announced that her guests had arrived.


	15. The Sleepover

Chapter 15... The sleepover

Hermione smiled at Draco as he walked forward and opened the portrait to greet their guests. They were glad to see that everyone had arrived at the same time. Hermione was pleased that everyone was making an attempt at conversation even if it was a bit awkward. She and Draco had stayed up late the previous night talking and sharing stories about their friends with each other. The stories they told led them to be pretty sure that if the group gave each other a chance they could be friends.

Everyone trooped in and took seats around the fire complimenting the head students on their rooms. Hermione smiled and thanked them all and asked Draco to floo the kitchens with their dinner orders. She had gone to the kitchens earlier in the week and asked the elves if it was alright that she had a party in her rooms and asked if they could be served dinner there. Of course the elves were a bit put off by her presence, but once she apologized for trying to set them free and promised she wouldn't try to do that again unless an elf specifically asked her to do so they relented. The result is that she was now more popular with the elves than ever which, she must admit, was wonderful.

It wasn't long before three elves appeared levitating trays and set them on the table Hermione had transfigured. The meal of Sheppards pine was simple but delicious and the wine that Draco had snuck in was soon warming in all their bellies. Draco and Hermione only had to steer the conversation a bit a first. As much as it vexed her, Quidditch was certainly the easiest gateway into other subjects though it took at least an hour for the subject to be exhausted.

Millicent and Ron were currently discussing Care of Magical Creatures over dessert. Ron was telling her of Charlie and his dragons in Romania and she seemed enthralled by the stories. Harry and Ginny were sitting awfully close together though they were both talking quietly with Blaise about their plans after graduation.

All in all Hermione and Draco were extremely pleased with the way the night was going and they settled down near each other to discuss plans for the year. Draco had decided that it would be fun to host a Halloween costume party this year in conjunction with the feast and they needed to work out the details before presenting the idea to McGonagall.

When the night had wound down and it was reaching ten o'clock the boys found it prudent to return to their rooms as it was getting past curfew. Draco, in a surprisingly nice gesture offered to walk them to their tower and dungeon so they wouldn't get into trouble. The girls said good night, tidied up the common room and made their way to Hermione's room.

Hermione herself took a deep breath and readied herself to spill her secret to her long time and her new best friends. She had told Severus of the sleep over and he agreed that Millicent could be trusted with the secret. In fact he expressed an appreciation to Hermione for giving Millicent another female influence. She had been close with Pansy, who perished in the war and now she was the only seventh year female in Slytherin.

The girls changed into their night clothes giggling when they realized they all had the same pajamas only in different colors. If you could even call them pajamas, they were actually wife beaters in different colors with matching boy shorts. It was when they all settled onto the floor with overstuffed cushions that Millicent and Ginny presented their "house warming" gift to Hermione. She smiled widely and tore through the tissue paper to find a round liquor bottle with a happy face on it and four shot glasses. When she read the title out loud all three girls smirked mischievously. They had gotten her a bottle of "Happy Tequila".

"I vote we pop this open tonight and get this party started!" Millicent stated matter of factly while Ginny nodded her head vigorously. Hermione giggled but popped the top off and filled three of the glasses up.

"All right girls, I propose a toast to new friendships!"

All three clinked glasses and chanted "To new friendships!" then downed their shots shuddering. Hermione then called on Dobby, leaving the other girls in the dark about her idea. Dobby appeared and smiled widely at the three girls.

"Hi Dobby! Would you do me a huge favor and section a couple of limes and grab some salt and bring it to us?"

"Dobby will be quick Miss Hermy! Is there anything else you be needing?"

"No Dobby that's it, thank you so much!" Hermione smiled at him and when to retrieve one of the several pairs of socks in Dobby's size that she had made over the summer for him. While they waited for him to return with her request Hermione asked the other girls where they had gotten the muggle liquor from.

"Well all I did was donate some money to the cause" explained Millicent "Ginny is actually the one who got the liquor."

Ginny piped up then to tell Hermione the story. "It wasn't a big deal really, I just owled Fred and George and they said they would get it. They sent the shot glasses as well; there are four because they came in a set. Now, are you going to tell us what the limes and salt are for?"

Just then Dobby popped back into the room and set the plate of limes and salt in the middle of the group along with a huge chocolate pie. Hermione smiled and thanked him then presented him with his socks. Dobby positively beamed at the three of them and winked back to the kitchen with watery eyes. The girls laughed about his excitement over socks and made a vow to get him some other elf sized clothes for Christmas.

"Good now I can show you what the food is for, minus the pie of course, Dobby always goes overboard." Hermione smiled as she filled the shot glasses again. "Now, you take a bit of salt and pour it between your thumb and pointer finger." She demonstrated the technique as she spoke. "Then lick the salt off, take the shot and quickly suck the lime wedge." All the girls did as instructed and immediately decided they like the way those crazy muggles did things.

"Alright Hermione, now that you have distracted us for awhile, its time to spill about what happened with Snape over the summer." Ginny said after winking at Millicent.

Hermione sighed and decided it was time to bite the bullet. She was excited about having someone to talk about him with, but she was a little nervous about their reactions.

"Professor Snape" she replied automatically. "Okay girls you win, but you have to promise me that whatever you say doesn't leave this room. I mean it you two; if I can't trust you then I will make you take a wizarding oath"

The girls looked wide eyed at Hermione but nodded their heads and scooted closer to her, eager to hear all the gory details. Hermione told them everything in minute detail, starting with running into him on the pier all the way up to Monday night when he slept over. The girls were shocked but got over it quickly enough when they heard how he interacted with Hermione.

"Sooo" purred Ginny "Does he have a big cock?" Hermione sputtered and had to spit he tequila back into the shot glass to keep from choking on it.

"I suppose I could ask the same about Harry, you two seem to be getting awfully close this year. I must admit I am relieved that your together, I though he was gay. Now I just have to worry about Ron." When Millicent hear her analysis of Ron she started turning red, which caused Hermione and Ginny to grin at each other and look at Millicent with raised eyebrows.

"What? There isn't anything between us; tonight was the first time we really talked. I think I kind of like him" she stated while smiling dreamily. "You don't mind do you Hermione?"

"Me? Why would I mind?"

"Well I know you two had a thing for awhile. Everybody kind of thought you were going to be barefoot and pregnant the year after graduation. Personally I thought it would be a waste of your giant radioactive brain, but whatever floats your boat."

Hermione laughed at Millicent's description, but was quick to reassure the girl of her and Ron's platonic relationship.

"Good" she replied "because if you cared I would just tell you to shove it, you can't have sexy Snape and Ron. Hermione took a moment to act indignant, but the effect was ruined when Ginny's pillow smacked her upside the head. The three girls were so involved in laughing and having their pillow fight that no one heard the whoosh of the fireplace or see the black haired head in the flames eavesdropping.

For Severus' part, he wasn't actually intending to show up during the very sexy pillow fight, more to see what the girls reactions to the "big" news was. He was curious about whether or not Hermione had told them. His unasked question however was answered soon enough when a streak of red hair launched on top of Hermione screaming "your precious Snape isn't here to save you woman!"

Severus held back a snicker at the antics though when they all collapsed in a pile laughing and began feeding each other bites of the chocolate pie he couldn't stop the steady chant of "yeah that's nice, now kiss" that was running through his mind.


	16. Hermione's Birthday

Chapter 16... Hermione's Birthday

Severus had spent a good amount of time over the last week preparing for Hermione's birthday. He intended to take her out for a night on the town. As much as he resisted the idea, he realized that the only place they could go and be relatively anonymous would be muggle London. He didn't think it would be too bad though, after all he had spent over a month in the company of muggles, but with Hermione there it hadn't bothered him at all.

He asked her to arrive at his chambers around five o'clock that evening and told her to dress in whatever she wanted. His surprises were all well thought out and he was excited to see her reaction to them. He looked about, ensuring that everything was wrapped and placed in a neat pile, though he had spent so much time fussing that it was getting late so he decided he had better start getting ready.

At five o'clock on the on the dot Hermione knocked on his door. When he swung it open and stepped aside to let her pass by him. After the door closed and he turned around Hermione let out a loud wolf whistle.

"You certainly look handsome Severus. Now, if you'll excuse me I think I will go back upstairs and change so I don't look homeless." And with that she turned around and tried to walk out the door before Severus blocked her path so she couldn't leave.

"Hermione you look beautiful, but you can change if it will make you feel better. Please humor me first though and open two gifts before you run away." Hermione glared at him a bit. She was surprised that he was wearing something very close to a muggle tuxedo, and she felt a bit foolish showing up in a denim mini skirt and sweater. He did look very handsome though, and she couldn't stay mad at such a hottie for long.

"Your first gift is in my bedroom, but you have to wait here." Hermione smirked and fully expected him to come out nude with a bow around his cock. She was surprised however when he returned fully clothed and carrying a big orange fluff ball. Said fluff ball the twitched, stretched, and meowed while it turned its huge lamp like eyes on Hermione.

"Crookeshanks? OH MY GOD SEVERUS YOU ARE AMAZING" She squealed prying him away from Severus' arms and hugging him so fiercely Severus almost stepped in to save the animal from having its eyes squeezed out of its head. The scene reminded him of a muggle cartoon he had seen once of a bratty child who scared animals away because she liked to hug them and love on them so much. He thought the name of the child may have been Elmira.

After hugging and cooing to her beloved half kneazle Hermione spun on her heels and launched herself at Severus. She placed kisses on every surface of his face she could reach and when she reached his mouth she probed deeply and sensuously. "Severus, just so you know, you are getting head every day until I graduate for this! Where did you find him?"

"Now now Miss Granger surely you don't expect me to spill all my secrets. I have friends in high places after all and the Minister of Magic had no problem stopping what he was doing to help me locate your cat" he suggested pompously while rubbing his fingernails regally on his lapel.

"With all due respect _Professor_" she retorted stressing his title "I believe you are full of shit. Though I don't doubt you have friends in high places, I do know that the Minister wouldn't be able to find Crookeshanks even if he was leaving tightly coiled presents on his desk. He just isn't that bright."

Severus snorted at the visual, but gave up the act. "Alright Hermione, you've found me out. I just called the pet stores in the area until I found one that had a half kneazle fitting this monstrosities description that was dropped off about the same time frame you gave him away."

"I just can't believe he wasn't adopted out again." Snape looked at her incredulously but wisely chose to say nothing other then "time for present number two". Hermione smiled and tried to restrain herself from jumping up and clapping while screaming out "Yay more presents". It was harder then she thought.

Severus reached down and picked out the largest present from the stack. It was long and not very deep, but was wrapped in beautiful shimmering silver paper. Though by the large amounts of spell o tape on the sides and bottom, Hermione figured he didn't have much experience in wrapping gifts. She thought it was adorable. She ripped through the paper and had to sneak in the use of her wand to sever the tape without destroying the box underneath. When she slid the top off the box she gasped at the contents.

There, nestled in the green tissue paper (nice touch, she thought sardonically) was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. It was a floor length silk gown in a deep lilac. It almost seemed that the color rippled when it moved and it reminded Hermione of the way Harry's invisibility cloak rippled. It had a halter neck that plunged down to an almost indecent depth put stopped just short of the empire waistline. Hermione was floored about his good taste in a style that would obviously suit her body type splendidly. She looked up at Severus and smiled when she saw he had a pair of matching shoes hanging on the tips of his fingers.

"Get going girl, put it on we have plans you know." Hermione was floored at this romantic side of him and quickly shot off into the bathroom to change. Luckily she had gotten a book of beauty charms from Ginny for Christmas the previous year, or fighting with her hair would have taken ages. She emerged from the bathroom and once again took Severus' breath away. "How in the hell did she ever wind up with me?" he thought.

"Good god woman you're breathtaking." He purred. "Now, we have time for your other gifts before we leave as long as you don't dawdle." Hermione found it amusing that the same man who had obviously run around town looking for these gifts, was the same one who could scold her for dawdling at the same time. She smile at him and tore into the remaining two presents quickly, once again amazed at the effort he put into them. In one box was a beautiful corsage. It was a white orchid with light pink and lilac veins running though it, which he slipped on her wrist. Hermione thought it terribly old fashioned but was giddy just the same.

The icing on the cake however, was the string of pearls, the largest one hanging at the bottom ina teardrop shape and was black, with matching teardrop earrings and a bracelet. It brought the dress together perfectly and when Hermione thanked him he had to push her away gently to keep them from missing their reservations. It turns out that she jewelry had belonged to his grandmother and when Hermione refused to take something so sentimental from him he insisted saying no one else would use it, and she deserved it after all.

The night started at a beautiful restaurant in London, the kind with white table clothes and linen napkins where the Maitre' Depulled out her chair for not only her, but Severus as well. The sight made her giggle a little, watching the short little man holding out a chair for her imposing lover. Dinner was marvelous, with the food and the wine complimenting each other in ways that had Hermione close to melting.

After dinner they made their way to the last leg of their evening. She was surprised when they arrived at the theater, though she knew Severus was well educated and diverse, she wouldn't peg him as a man who would enjoy the theater. It turns out she was right. He seemed a bit put off by the closeness of everyone around him. It wasn't that he so loathed the muggles touching him, but he did loathe being touched by strangers in general. Hermione saw the discomfort he was in and decided to let him off the hook. After all, though she loved it, she had seen Phantom of the Opera before. In fact, she informed him, she played Carlotta in youth Community Theater the summer after her third year. They decided to sell their tickets to a young couple looking longingly at the marquee and set off to find another form of entertainment.

It was three hours later that found the couple munching on ice cream cones in a little sweet shop that was locate on a side street in London while they talked endlessly about trivial things. With her shoes kicked off and resting in Severus' lap, Hermione told the story of her role as Carlotta, and how much fun it was to play a bitch. She only had to slap Severus on the knee once when he inquired whether her being a bitch actually counted as "acting". Severus in turn told Hermione of his family, his beloved mother and the father who never beat him but certainly hit his mother more then once. It was a sad story, but Hermione was glad to hear it and know about his past. It filled her heart with tenderness to see the look in his eyes when he spoke of his mother and their "special secret time" where she would spend hours teaching him magic behind his father back.

As she thought of the night fondly, she realized that it was probably the best birthday she had ever had. She wasn't quite sure what she had done right to allow her to be deserving of the way she felt since she had started seeing Severus. She didn't question it for too long however, deciding that she would just enjoy every moment they could be together. The feelings of euphoria lasted all through the evening, and didn't end when they found themselves sharing his bed.

After a particularly slow and sweet bout of lovemaking, Hermione curled herself into Severus, sighed, and whispered "I do love you so much Severus". She waited nervously for how he would react, but knew that she would wait for him to feel the same if he didn't already.

He had heard her declaration and suddenly felt as though all the air had been sucked out of the room leaving him breathless. He struggled to hold back his emotions; it wouldn't do at all to start blubbering, as he pulled her closer.

"I love you too Hermione, more then I can ever show you". They smiled at each other and kissed languidly before settling in the most restful sleep either of them had been graced with since the war.

Saturday morning crept up on them too quickly, but she knew she needed to floo back to her rooms before her friends came knocking. Sure enough, Hermione had just enough time to shower and change before the sea captain announced her friends presence. She asked him to allow them up and was only mildly creeped out by the leering stare he directed at her half dressed form. She pulled on a jumper and greeted her friends at the door.

It was another wonderful day and Hermione felt so blessed to be able to wake up to Severus then spend the remainder of it with the group of old and new friends. They had lunch at the Three Broomsticks, shopped at all the best stores, and the group even allowed Hermione to spend a whole hour in the book store.

The real excitement came when Hermione pulled her girlfriends back from the boys and mouthed "he said he loved me" to them. The girls immediately wanted details and responded to every bit of information with overexcited squeals.

The boys spun around with their wands drawn when they heard the girls screaming. They were soon looking at each other with puzzled expressions when all they saw was the three girls clinging to each other while jumping up and down screaming in delight.

A/N: Up next is the Halloween feast. It should be fun. For those of you who never had the honor of watching Tiny Toon Adventures, Elmira is a cartoon character Oh, by the way the wrapping her gifts with copious amounts of spell o tape actually came from my boyfriend. The first Christmas we were together he wrapped my gifts with packing tape. He actually wrapped it around the paper in one long strand and I broke a pair of scissors trying to cut it open. Happy reading everyone! I hope to get another chapter up today, but if not it will be early tomorrow!


	17. Halloween Feast

Chapter 17... Halloween Feast

It was the beginning of October when Hermione and Draco finally approached Professor McGonagall with Draco's idea of the costume party. She was a bit reserved about the idea, but readily agreed when they mentioned it would be a wonderful opportunity for the houses to mingle without the pressure of an every day environment. They had decided to have a costume contest and give out prizes for the best costumes in each grade.

Once the idea was announced, the school was in near chaos ordering and making their own costumes. There was only one Hogsmeade weekend left until Halloween for the younger students to shop for their costumes, and those under third year had to owl order all theirs. Luckily the seventh years could leave the grounds on any weekend as long as they had a signed permission slip from home and they notified a professor beforehand.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Millicent and Blaise had decided to head down to the village the week before the younger students were allowed to go so they could have a chance at the good costumes. The girls had challenged the guys to a bet on who would have the better costumes, so in the interest of secrecy they decided to split up and begin the ultimate battle of the sexes costume search.

When everyone had made their choices they tucked them under their arms they gathered for a butterbeer then headed back up to the school. They quickly separated again and Hermione took the opportunity to catch up on her school work. It was going to be a very hectic couple of weeks between Severus, school, and preparing for Halloween.

Hermione was right about the following weeks being very busy, though the upside of this was that the time seemed to fly by. Before they knew it everyone was gathered in the common area of Draco and Hermione's room waiting for the duo to return from decorating the great hall. When they finally did return it was to the expectant faces all around, but they were tight lipped about the decorations, they didn't want to ruin the surprise.

The guys sat around the common room with a few hours to spare while the girls headed up to Hermione's room to pamper each other and prepare for the festivities. The girls had decided to arrive as a trio of fairies. Well, the muggle version of fairies at least. Hermione had showed them Peter Pan one evening on her charmed IPOD because she had said their costumes reminded her of Tinkerbelle.

The group of girls did nails, shaved legs, plucked eyebrows, and generally caused each other a lot of pain in order to look good. After they had secured golden ribbon through their French twists and had placed crowns of wild flowers on their heads they got creative with the glitter. Hermione giggled when Ginny announced how angry Severus would be if she didn't wash the glitter away before shagging him. He would be vanishing glitter from his pubic hair for days. Though he may have to resort to doing it by hand, seeing as how not many men are brave enough to use a vanishing charm near their crotch.

Now that the girls were properly shimmering they began the complicated task of getting dressed. Each girl had her own colored outfit that consisted of thigh high fishnet stocking in their coordinating color, a garter belt to hold them up, a satin shirt which tied beneath their breasts, a short skirt made of contrasting layers of tulle, and a large set of glittering fair wings. They were a bit afraid it would be too revealing for a school event, but they had gotten professor McGonagall's approval before hand.

In fact it seemed as though McGonagall was allowing the seventh and sixth years to do pretty much as they pleased as long as they weren't hurting anyone. Normally it was the Headmistresses duty to steer the older students into adulthood, but following the war she found it more prudent to let the children that had been forced to grow up so fast act like children for a change. She would make sure they were prepared for what awaited them, but she had little doubt that they could probably give a few lessons on that subject themselves.

The girls were all set to wow the boys and after they had slipped on their shoes they grabbed a camera and took turns getting their photos taken then decided the boys should get a group shot of them together before they set off. Millicent looked beautiful in a costume of black and pink, Hermione was radiant in her colors of black and silver, and Ginny in black and green with her wild red hair looked as though she should be the label on a bottle of Absinthe somewhere.

The girls sauntered down the stairs together and were pleased to show off their costumes with turns while the boys cat called and whistled. They were a bit confused however when they noticed the boys were only wearing jeans and white t shirts. When they questioned them about it, the group smiled and each slipped on huge cardboard boxes in all different colors that looked like giant Christmas gifts with a head, arms, and legs. When the girls continued to look puzzled they were encouraged to read the tags hanging down which read "To: Women Love: Merlin". They still didn't seem to get it for a fraction of a second more before they were all rolling around on the floor, grateful for charmed makeup due to the tears of mirth rolling down their faces. The boys were dressed as Merlin's gift to women and the girls couldn't believe how funny it was.

They all stood in one big group and set the camera on the mantle to take a timed photograph of the group. Years later you would find this blown up and framed, hanging in the home of every person in the group of friends. They made their way towards the festivities and only had to stop once when a second year tried to get in wearing a garbage bag and claiming he was a muggle condom. Draco sent him to his room to change into something more appropriate (he suggested sticking bits of parchment to himself and going as rubbish), but told him he could come back when he changed.

Everyone was floored by the decorations in the hall that Halloween and Draco and Hermione were quite pleased with the reactions. The usual bats were flying above, but they had added huge spider webs all over, a coffin that served as a punch bowl, and of course invited the ghosts to attend. The large tables had been packed away in favor of the small round ones from the Yule Ball though they were draped in orange fabric with black gauze over them and a large Jack-o-lantern as the centerpiece. Dinner, as usual, was excellent as was the punch which was being monitored by eagle eye Hooch though she was known to spike the bowl at the staff Christmas party every year.

Severus stood off to the side of the room conversing with McGonagall who was dressed as Rowena Ravenclaw and trying to convince him to enjoy the festivities. From where he stood, Severus didn't care much for joining in, but was certainly pleased to watch Hermione bounce around in that costume. He was very content to sit on the sidelines until Draco asked Hermione to dance. They tried swaying to the music when Draco was wearing his box, but it was just to awkward which amused Severus to no end. The problem didn't come until he had removed his box so he could hold Hermione against him as they danced.

Severus though he was a pretty reasonable man, though his students would disagree, so he waited with narrowed eyes until the song ended, then swooped in to commandeer Hermione. She looked pleased to see him and didn't object when he gathered her in his arms and danced with her slowly. They were forced to keep a decent distance between their bodies for the sake of propriety, but Severus could see the barley concealed lust in her honey eyes. He stepped away when the song ended, but not before securing a promise from Hermione to come to him when the party was over, and with that he slipped out of the hall, unable to bear seeing her in anyone else's arms for longer then that.

Her friends were surprised when they danced together but she smoothly lied, stating they had a wager on whether or not she could brew the wolfsbane potion without assistance that he lost. Originally she said she told him he had to come to the party dressed as "batman" but when he flatly refused after she explained who batman was, she settled for a dance. She told them she had hoped it would make people believe he was a human after all, which he most certainly did not want to happen.

After going strong for hours, the party began to wind down and the winners of the costume contest from each year were announced and presented with gift certificates to Honeydukes. Hermione and Draco were ineligible because they had organized it, but were pleased to see Seamus Finnegan win for his alien costume. Ron and Millicent had disappeared some time ago and no one was trying too hard to find them, Harry had a headache and apologizing profusely to Ginny, headed to the hospital wing for a cure and then to bed. Draco and Hermione staged a quick clean up with their wands and left with Blaise to have a firewiskey in his room, which left Hermione and Ginny alone for some quality time. Hermione was in a hurry to see Severus but felt bad leaving Ginny, so she invited her down to his chambers with her, knowing Severus wouldn't mind if it was just for an hour or so.

By the time they arrived in the dungeons, Ginny looked as though she was rethinking the decision to come down there. Its not that Ginny isn't a reasonable person, she is, it was just hard to get that fierce image of him out of her head. Hermione led her through the classroom, into his office, and knocked on his door. When Severus opened the door, he was surprised to see Miss Weasley there with Hermione, but knew how much she valued the younger girls friendship so he very wisely kept his mouth shut. He opened the door a bit wider for the girls and let them through, nodding to Miss Weasley as she passed.

Once inside and seated around his polished kitchen table the conversation flowed well, and before long a bottle of wine had been opened and passed around. Severus was impressed with Ginny's ability to hold on a decent conversation, though in retrospect he should of realized that anyone who Hermione held in such high esteem had to at least have half a brain. He noticed the girls were shivering and like a true gentleman went to retrieve two of his shirts for them to wear.

Severus was a bit embarrassed to be entertaining two of his students wearing only fishnets and his shirts in his quarters. He ignored the bad feeling that had settled in the pit of his stomach and continued to entertain the duo. They talked and drank for hours and it wasn't long before they had settled in front the fire, Severus in the armchair and the girls on the rug directly in front of him, talking and braiding each others hair. It wasn't long after that before they were leaning their heads together and whispering conspiratorially to each other and looking in his direction. On the whole Severus was unconcerned with their antics, but still kept a wary eye in their direction. Who knew what kind of things those two schemed when they got together? After all, he was talking about the very same Hermione who had been there for every step of the boys antics, and was currently crawling towards him on her hands and knees.

He wished he could act disinterested, but seeing her on all floors in one of his shirts which rode up just high enough to show off her garter was too much for even him to ignore. He was sure Ginny was getting an eyeful behind her, and when he flicked his eyes towards the redhead he was stunned to see her enjoying the view.

When Hermione reached his armchair she untied his boots and slipped them off before her hands continued crawling over his shins and thighs and rested on his zipper. He looked at her startled, but quickly forgot his reservations when her nimble fingers began massaging him through his trousers. She suddenly released him and perched herself on his lap while beckoning Ginny closer to her with one finger. Ginny instantly complied and pushed herself off the floor to saunter over to Hermione. The girls both turned to look at Severus and licked their lips before turning back and began kissing each other hungrily.

Severus watched the girls devour each others mouths and tried to mentally talk his cock out of ripping a hole in his trousers. Hermione must have sensed his need, for she soon replaced her hand on his throbbing member and began to unzip him gently before freeing him from his confining prison. The girls stopped kissing and stood to begin peeling each other out of their clothes, leaving Severus breathless at the sensuality of watching them shimmy over each other, backlit by the fire, and snap off garters and bras then roll down each others fishnets. It wasn't long before he had wrapped his own fingers around his cock and watched them caress through half lidded eyes.

He was so far gone by that point, that he jumped a little when he felt small hands pull his fingers away from his cock and envelop it in wet heat. His eyes were wide open now, and he knew he wouldn't last long with Hermione working him with her mouth while Ginny lay beneath her and licked at Hermione's cunt. He was proud at how long he had actually managed to hold off, but when Hermione began to hum her orgasm around him he lost it and shot his seed straight into her mouth. Her huge honey eyes looked up at him with that spark he loved and the minx winked before turning to Ginny and once again kissing her softly mixing the taste of herself and Severus together.

Severus thought he was done for the evening after that, but upon seeing them lay on floor so Hermione could return the favor to Ginny, he was quickly hard as a rock once more. Ginny lay on her back on his rug with her knees spread wide open and Hermione's face soundly between them. This time he took the initiative to stand behind Hermione and enter her from behind. She moaned in pleasure which in turn made Ginny squirm. Hermione loved the feeling of being fucked from behind and was already tightening around Severus, so she inserted two fingers inside Ginny and pumped her while she continued to circle her clit with her tongue. It wasn't long before the three were coming violently then collapsing on the rug.

Ginny had decided to head up to bed for the night, and Severus and Hermione had her to floo to Hermione's room and sleep in the luxury there for the remainder of the morning. It was around four o'clock before the other two lovers tucked themselves into Severus' bed. Hermione rolled over on top of him, kissed him soundly then laid her head against his chest and whispered "I love you" before drifting off for a few hours rest.

A/N: There was my dirt little threesome. I hope you liked it! I also forgot to mention in the last chapter, that the idea for Severus returning Crookeshanks, came form the wonderful mazatrix isstrange who mentioned that idea early on in the story and I had just found the right time to use it!

talkingdonkeys - I agree with your assessment of men and wrapping paper, though when I read my boyfriend your review he pouted. I told him he should just be happy he is inspiring to me. Lol

EruthiadwenGreenleaf - Your reviews always make me smile. I love your comments! Thank you so much!

notwritten - ::holds up two fingers:: Scouts honor that I shall try very hard to keep on updating, but this week is finals for me (I go to school on line) so I may have to forego the story for a couple days.

Heidi191976 - It was my favorite cartoon as well, my friends used to call me pinky. Lets face it, I could never be Brain.

amd2175 - thank you so much for the offer. I may take you up on it sometime, four eyes are always better then two! By the way, this one is for you:

**We're tiny, we're ****toony****, we're all a little ****looney****And in this cartoony, we're invading your TV!****We're comic dispensers, we crack up all the censors****On tiny ****toon**** adventures get a dose of comedy!****So here's Acme Acres, it's a whole wide world apart****Our home sweet home, it stands alone, a cartoon work of art!****The scripts were rejected, expect the unexpected****On**** tiny ****toon**** adventures it's about to start!****They're furry, they're funny, they're ****Babs**** and Buster Bunny****Montana Max has money, ****Elmyra**** is a pain!****Here's ****Hamton**** and Plucky, Dizzy Devil's yucky****Furrball's**** unlucky, and ****Gogo**** is insane!****At Acme ****Looniversity**** we earn our ****toon**** degree****The teaching staff's been getting laughs since 1933! ****We're tiny, we're ****toony****, we're all a little ****looney****It's tiny ****toon**** adventures, come and join the fun! And now our song is done!**

NutsAboutHarry - Your so sweet! Thank you, and I will try very hard too keep up with chapters!

sinbad - Thank you for the reviews, and my reading of fan fiction is on hold for a few day because of school and this story, but it's at the top of my list to read when I get the time. I'm sure I'll love it!


	18. It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christ

Chapter 18... It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

The beginning of December brought chaos to the faculty and head students of Hogwarts. The air was cold and crisp and seemed to infuse the student population with a new found energy that was nice to see at first, but quickly grew tiresome to anyone trying to keep a semblance of discipline at the school. Hermione and Draco were spending enormous amounts of time decorating the halls and working with the masters in their fields. Draco loved working with Professor Flitwick and thoroughly enjoyed visiting his godfather in the dungeons and showing off his skills in "silly wand waving". Severus of course grumbled good naturedly about his impertinence and Hermione enjoyed hearing them tell stories from both points of view.

Severus and Hermione continued to grow closer all the time and it was becoming increasingly difficult for Hermione to part with him after the sensual nights and wonderful mornings. It had come to the point in her apprenticeship where they actually had to spend most days working. Hermione of course spent most of her free time studying the art so that when they were together she was ahead of the game and they could spend it enjoying each others company. Severus was extremely grateful for her studious nature because now that he had sex regularly, it was a lot more difficult to go more then two or three days without it. Ever since the Halloween threesome he had a bounce in his step that everyone seemed to notice but attributed to the end of the war.

He was madly in love with Hermione and was toying with the idea of proposing. He certainly didn't want to rush things, but he was thinking of leaving the school after she graduated anyway and opening his own apothecary. Though he wasn't as rich as a lot of old families were, he had amassed enough to live on comfortably while the apothecary started getting on well. She could continue to apprentice under him and he knew she would have no trouble doing whatever she chose when she was a Potions Mistress.

He decided to hold off on the proposal until later, but he would bring up his idea of the shop soon and see how she reacted. He wanted her to know that no matter what she chose to do, he would be there beside her the entire time.

Hermione had never before considered herself a girly girl who would spend hours humming the wedding march in her head and dreaming of her gown, but she found herself thinking more then once in terms of "when I get my mastership and Severus and I can travel…" or "after Severus and I are married". She certainly hoped she wasn't making undue assumptions about their future together, but she knew in her heart she would be around as long as he wanted her.

She had decided to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays with her friends after McGonagall said that the leak at the ministry had been found and the person was arrested. This of course meant that her parents could come out of hiding, but they would need to stay at Hogwarts for about a week while they secured the house with strong protection wards. Hermione had begged her to bring them back over the holidays so she could spend Christmas with her parents and Severus. McGonagall readily agreed and Hermione had shot out of her office and into Severus' quarters to tell him the good news. He was of course thrilled to finally have a reason to be happy during Christmas, but was more then a little nervous about spending time with Hermione's parents. Her parents didn't know they were together, and they decided they wouldn't tell them until after graduation, but he still wanted to make a good impression.

Harry could attest to the fact that when you were looking forward to something time crawled by, but when you were dreading something time seemed to work in warp speed, and Severus learned this lesson well this month. Though he wasn't actually dreading Hermione's parents stay, he certainly wasn't looking forward to trying to undo whatever negative impression he may have made on them over the summer. They were arriving on the Hogwarts Express that was coming to pick up the students for the break, and he escorted Hermione to Hogsmeade to greet them. They enjoyed the time they had alone while they were walking towards the station, and Hermione took the opportunity to tell Severus stories of her childhood and her parents.

They had arrived at the station about twenty minutes early and sat upon a bench to await the train. They had to be careful about the way they interacted with each other in places where they would be recognized, but still snuck a few innocent kisses beneath the protection of a privacy charm. It wasn't long before they noticed the steam in the sky and heard the tell tale whistle of the train, so they stood and got ready to greet her parents.

When the door to the train was opened and Hermione's parents stepped onto the platform it only took a split second before mother and daughter were hugging and crying and her father had lifted her into his arms swung her around. When her parents noticed the professor they quickly composed themselves and greeted Severus a bit more shyly then he expected.

For his part, Severus had turned into the consummate gentleman and immediately bowed to them with a "Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Granger, I am pleased to see you safe and reunited with your daughter" before he took the liberty of shrinking their bags and placing them in his pocket to carry. They were curious as to why they had to hide for so long when Minerva mentioned the remaining death eaters had been captured over the summer and Hermione cringed as she realized she would be forced to tell them of the attack at the cottage and the leak at the ministry. She was lucky Severus was there to diffuse the situation when her parents became upset and started to blame the incompetence of the school to keep their daughter safe as promised.

"I can assure you both" Severus began sternly, but not unkindly "that it was not due to anyone's incompetence that the incident occurred. It was unfortunate that there was a leak in the ministry that led the death eaters to us, but that has been rectified and the slime is in prison. I will tell you though that it was your daughter that managed to apprehend three fully qualified death eaters single handedly. She is truly an extraordinary witch to manage what hundreds of people spent months trying to accomplish. I have no doubt that she can take care of herself and come to think of it I owe her a life debt. Surely if she hadn't acted so quickly in apprehending them, I would of walked into a situation where I would most likely have been killed."

Her parents looked to Hermione, impressed at hearing someone else praise her abilities so highly, and it wasn't long before they were relaxed and conversing freely with Severus. On the carriage ride to the school, Severus spoke of Hermione's accomplishments since her first year, and proudly told of her and Draco managing to mend so many broken hearts after the war. They were told of her Order of Merlin, her portrait in the Ministry of Magic, and the many books that were in the process of being written about the Golden Trio and their adventures. Though they knew their daughter was brilliant, for the first time Hermione's parents looked at her and saw an adult who deserved to be treated as an equal and the amazing woman she had grown up to be.

The carriage arrived at the school and Severus climbed out first so he could help the ladies step down. He led them up to the school and ushered them to the headmistress's office before they were trampled by students in a rush to get to the train home. They had a wonderful meeting with Minerva, who walked them to the guest quarters they would be staying in and told them once again how proud she was of Hermione. Minerva and Severus unshrunk their luggage and left the family to get reacquainted with each other, trusting Hermione to let her parents know how things worked around the school. Hermione told her parents of the house elves and summoned Dobby to meet them.

Dobby was, of course, near tears at being treated so well as to be introduced to Miss Hermy's parents, and with tears in his eyes told them what a wonderful witch she was. By this point, Hermione was more then sick of hearing about herself and her parents had begun teasing her about the price of joining the Hermione Granger fan club. She left her parents to rest for a few hours and promised to fetch them for dinner in the Great Hall.

When she left her parents, she decided to head to her rooms and see where everyone was so she could spend some time with the friends she had been neglecting recently. They were thrilled to be able to hang out for awhile and whiled away the time until dinner playing games of exploding snap and wizards chess and talking of how weird it would be to have Hermione's parents at the castle with them.

The day dissolved quickly amongst her friends and soon the group had started towards Hermione's parents' room to pick them up for dinner. Mr. and Mrs. Granger were very pleased to see Harry and Ron again and were even more excited to meet Draco, Blaise, and Millicent for the first time. They looked at Hermione with surprised expressions when Ron hurried forward to grab Millicent's hand in his own, the last they had heard he and Hermione were going to give it a go. Hermione smiled at them and told them that they were too good of friends to ruin with a relationship and she thought that Ron and Millicent made a wonderful couple; much better then it could have ever been between Ron and herself.

Pacified that their daughter's heart wasn't broken, they chatted with Harry and Ginny for awhile until they reached the great hall. As was the custom when the majority of students were gone, the long tables had been disbanded with and a large circular table had been set up to accommodate everyone. Hermione had sat next to a small first year that looked a bit intimidated by all the upperclassman and professors and was currently coaxing him into a conversation about herbology and suggesting he speak to Neville who could help him out with the class. Severus had come in a few minutes later and sat on the other side of Hermione's parents talking with them and Minerva.

The week passed with Hermione spending ample amounts of time catching up with her parents. She was thrilled to see the effort that Severus made with them, and was pleased to note how well it had paid off. Hermione's mother spoke often of "that wonderful Professor Snape" and her father spent a good amount of time in the dungeons with Hermione and Severus watching them brew together. Hermione's mother was happy to whittle away the hours in the greenhouses with Professor Sprout and one day the three of them even had tea with Hagrid.

Christmas was in only two more days and Hermione dragged her parents and friends to the village for some last minute shopping. Severus put up a good show of reluctance in joining them as a chaperone, but winked stealthily at Hermione while he grumbled. The village was beautiful with the holiday decorations set up and the snow blanketing the ground. It made for some wonderful memories of her final Christmas at Hogwarts.

For Severus' part, he was breathing a sigh of relief and thanking Merlin every chance he got that Hermione's parents were good people and he actually got on with them quite well. The week with her parent had cemented the idea in his head that he would truly love to spend the rest of his days with her.

Christmas day was wonderful for everyone at the castle. The students, including the shy first year, had all had a large sleepover in Draco and Hermione's common room and woken up to share their first Christmas with their new family. Hermione had woken earlier and fetched her parents to her room so they could enjoy the morning with her friends as well. They all spent the morning laughing and ripping the paper off of their gifts and generally enjoying Christmas. New pictures were taken for each person's photo album, and after breakfast everyone left in the school headed down to the lake for ice skating, which Hermione admitted she was dreadful at. The group laughed and teased each other and Professor Flitwick sneakily cast a cushioning charm on Hermione's backside so she wouldn't break her tailbone when she fell so often.

The day was perfect in everyone's eyes, and it didn't seem to escape Hermione's parents how close she seemed to be with the potions master. To them it was to be expected when they spent as much time together working on her apprenticeship as they did, but they still smiled knowingly at the pair when ever they watched them interact.

Severus had flooed to Hermione's rooms that evening and they exchanged gifts in the flickering glow of candlelight. Hermione had bought him a silver cauldron she had seen him looking at in a potions magazine, a new cloak, and his favorite by far, a shiny black owl that had what looked to be a white cauldron shaped mark on his chest. Severus was thrilled with the owl, because he had never bothered to get one of his own even though her really wanted one. He decided to name him Pepé which made Hermione laugh hysterically.

She received from Severus another beautiful set of jewelry, this time in onyx and several potions books that you had to be a Master to buy. They were happy to finally have some time alone and Hermione decided to make good on her birthday promise of giving him head every day until graduation. He wasn't sure how she managed to do it but she had perfected the art of fellatio and after one lick he was putty in her hands. She ran her fingers up and down his shaft and caressed his balls as she applied the perfect amount of suction to him.

He stopped her before he could cum and laid her on her back to return the favor. He spread her wide ran his sharp tongue along her slit, causing her to suck in a breath of air and shiver. He loved the taste of her and savored every minute he could spend with his head buried between her legs. It wasn't long before he had her whimpering and bucking into his mouth and when she came with a stream expletives, he greedily lapped up her juices, licking his lips as not to waste a drop.

Before she could come to her senses completely, he had stood and entered her, not bothering to tease her slowly as he usually did. He rammed into her with everything he had, and when she looked up at him with her big eyes and uttered the words "I want you to cum on my face Severus", he had to withdraw from her body completely or he knew he would lose it right then. She arched her back and moaned pitifully at losing him from inside of her, but when he placed his huge cock between he breasts and pushed the globes together against himself, she felt herself tightening. She loved the feel of his silken shaft moving against her and she began to lick the head of his cock on his forward thrusts.

Severus' face contorted and turned red a split second before he came and with a shout worthy of a giant he came in hard spurts on her chin. He took a second to recover and then leaned back to insert a finger inside of Hermione which immediately sent her over the edge herself. Hermione licked all of the cum she could reach off her face, and after scourgifying them both, she curled into his arms.

They spent the next couple of hours speaking of the future and Severus took the opportunity to tell her of his plans after the end of the school year. Hermione was disappointed that he wouldn't always be at Hogwarts to shape young minds, but was thrilled he had found something to be passionate about. He asked her to join him at the shop and his heart swelled when she agreed. After dreamily making plans for their future, they drifted off to sleep and dreamed of their life together.

A/N: Sorry that took so long to post. It is a rather boring chapter, but I felt it was a needed lead. The next chappy will be their New Years celebration and there should be some surprises! I love all of you so much and your reviews just crack me up!


	19. It’s Time To Tell Her Friends

Chapter 19... It's Time To Tell Her Friends

Hermione was disappointed to have to see her parents off the morning after Christmas, but was very happy with the time she was able to spend with them. Though she was thrilled they accepted her decision to return to the wizarding world, there was a part of her that was terrified that it would create an irrevocable rift between them. The time she was able to spend with them over the holidays allowed her to mend that rift and feel like she was close to them once again. They were able to see where she went for most of the year, and meet the people who helped make her what she is.

Her parents were making the return trip home through the floo network. They still weren't used to traveling by magical means, but they did admit how nice it was to be able to cut their travel time down to a few minutes. While the group was saying their goodbyes, Hermione saw Mr. Granger pull Severus aside and speak to him. The facial expressions were a bit tight at first, but after a few moments they relaxed once again and the two men shook hands firmly. Hermione and Severus sent her parents home and took a moment to embrace in the privacy of Minerva's office, causing Albus' portrait to beam.

When they pulled away from each other, the question in Hermione's eyes let Severus know he was due for an interrogation. "Severus, what did you and my father speak about?"

"He noticed how much time we spend together and questioned me about the nature of our relationship. Your parents are very observant love; they noticed how comfortable we are around each other."

"Oh Severus!" she replied sounding a bit hysterical "was he upset? What did you tell him?"

"Calm down Hermione. Its okay" he soothed while pulling her against his chest. She could feel his voice rumble deep and soothing against her cheek while he spoke. "I told him that it was true, we were dating and have been since over the summer, but that my intentions are entirely honorable and I love you with all of my heart."

This simple statement caused Hermione eyes to begin watering, and she breathed deeply through the tight feeling in her chest. "I love you too Severus, I hope we can spend the rest of our lives together. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me."

For Severus, it was wonderful hearing this confirmation of what he was feeling. He still didn't want to propose while she was in school, but he knew now that they would be married eventually, and eventually grow old together. He was surprised at his new found sentimentality towards marriage and a family, something he swore he would never want or have, but he none the less began to yearn for recently.

The couple walked back to his chambers, each lost in their own thoughts but desperately clinging to each others hands almost afraid to let go, for if they did the illusion of happiness would disappear with the contact of their intertwined fingers. When they arrived in his quarters Hermione brought up the thought she had been pondering for awhile.

"Severus, the guys are starting to get suspicious of me. They see how happy I am and they seem to know it's a man that's making me feel this way. They wonder who I am disappearing to see so often and Millicent and Ginny can only cover for me so much. I think it's time I tell them what's happening. Ron and Harry are both pre occupied with their own relationships right now. I think with the help of Ginny and Millicent I can talk them out of acting too rashly."

Severus looked a doubtful at her plan to come clean, and didn't hesitate to let her know that he wasn't at all comfortable with this turn of events. "Hermione, I love you, but you have this faith in people that I just can't share. I am glad you have it, or you would have never of given me a chance, but looking at the world through rose colored glasses isn't always the smartest thing to do. I know your friends care about you, but I don't have as much faith in their ability to think about this rationally."

"So, you think I'm naive? Is that it? I am mature enough to fuck but not to make decisions based off of friendships I have had for nearly seven years?" Severus' eyes grew wide at how quickly the situation had gotten away from him, and tried to quickly smooth the situation over.

"Hermione, love, please listen to me. I don't think you're naive. I just think your being naive about this particular situation." He quickly realized that this was not the right thing to say, and his pride at his smooth talking quickly turned to him inwardly cringing at the look on her face.

"So you think that I am stupid for trusting my friends? Severus I am so sick of lying to them. We have been through so much together and they have always accepted me for what I am. I think they have a right to know what is happening in my life. They don't hate you and they haven't for awhile, why can't you extend them the same courtesy?"

"I can't extend them the courtesy because I know what will happen. They have never appreciated you for what you are Hermione. They know your smart and they know your brains have helped them out of a lot of bad situations, but they don't appreciate you as someone mature enough to make her own decisions. I know what will happen. You will tell them and they will scream and yell and tell you how much I have taken advantage of you and in the end you will choose them over me. They will drive you away from me, Hermione!"

"You seem to be doing an exceedingly good job of driving me away from you on your own Severus." And with that she shook her head sadly, and with silent tears running down her face, let herself out of his quarters. While he watched his door swing shut with a soft thud, Severus could do nothing but sink down on his couch with his face in his hands. How could he have been so stupid as to let her walk away? His whole reason for happiness just walked out his door and he highly doubted she would ever walk back in again. He spent the rest of his evening drowning his sorrows in Firewiskey while he thought about what could have been.

Meanwhile in her common room, Hermione sobbed into Draco's shoulder, who was at an utter loss as to how to comfort her due to his complete lack of knowledge on what was bothering her. He made soothing sounds in her ear and smoothed her hair in his hands while he sat and held her. He was about to ask her if she wanted Ginny and Millicent when the whole lot of them walked through the portrait hole. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Millicent, and Blaise were immediately at her side, crouching around her and gently trying to find out what was wrong.

For her part, Hermione had slowly controlled her sobs and gave her friends a watery smile which they returned with more then a bit of confusion. When she took a deep breath and pulled from Draco's arms it was with a silent conviction. Her decision made, she began to fill the boys in on what her summer was really like.

They were of course horrified and Harry and Ron reacted predictably with yells and accusations of manipulation on his part. Hermione desperately tried to convince them otherwise, but they were so upset, firstly at Severus for using her then tossing her aside, then at Hermione herself for letting him do this to her and keeping it from them. The fact that Severus was right about their reactions did little to appease her broken heart and she quickly tore away from the group and ran to her room.

The girls sent each other a sad look then quickly rounded on Harry and Ron and dragged them from the room to give them a piece of their mind on how they were supposed to treat friends. Draco and Blaise were stunned at the news, but recovered fast enough to follow Hermione to her room and run damage control. When they arrived at the portrait guarding her door, they expected some hesitance, but apparently the pirates could see her need and swung open with not so much as a threatening hook waved in their direction.

"Hermione, please listen to us" Blaise softly whispered to her back, as she refused to turn and face them. "We were all surprised at the news. You can't expect to spring news like that on us and not have any reaction in return. We love you and want you to be happy and if he does that, then why are you here crying instead of with him?"

"Because he thinks I am a stupid little girl who sees the world with all rainbows and lollipops. After all we have been through, he still doesn't see me as an equal to him" she sobbed.

"I know that isn't true darling. Severus Snape is a sour and difficult man, but he isn't stupid. He would have to be blind to see you as anything other then a beautiful, intelligent woman" Draco replied honestly. "He is my Godfather and I have seen him change in the past months. People think it's because he isn't serving two masters any longer, but Hermione, now I know it's because of you. For the first time in his life he had hopes for the future. Please try to understand that we all say things we don't mean. From what you tell me, he was terrified he was going to lose you when you told your friends".

"Boy's I really appreciate what you are trying to do for me, but don't you think that Ron and Harry should be up here with me? They are my oldest friends, and all they care about is what they think is happening. They don't even care enough to talk it through with me. As much as I hate to admit it, Severus was right. And now that I know that I can't even tell him because Ron and Harry will probably tell everyone and get his fired and me expelled!"

Blaise was ready for this and was quick to reassure her. "They will come around Hermione. They are upset now, but with Ginny and Millicent there with them it won't be long before they come to their senses and apologize. No one is going to rat you guys out. We all care about you too much. They were just upset because they love you and want what's best for you, we all do and in the end it will all work out. It always does."

Hermione was grateful for the company and nodded her head in agreement before curling up to sleep. She had exhausted herself with how upset she had become, and with a plea to the boys not to leave her alone, she drifted into a heavy sleep between the two of them that was wrought with nightmares of growing old all alone.

A/N: Very short chappy I know! I am so sorry but I had exams (which went very well I think!) and I just had to get something out to you guys today! Tomorrow I get the last two of my wisdom teeth pulled and they are in bad shape so , although I still plan on writing with all that glorious time I will have to myself, the chapters may be a little loopy due to a Vicaden (I don't think I spelled that correctly) induced drug trip. I love all of you and I will work extra hard to get most of this written before next term starts!


	20. New Years

Chapter 20... New Years

It was only two days until New Years Eve and Hermione found herself terrified of spending it alone or in company of her happily coupled friends. She had come around to the fact that Severus had made a fair point, but she felt so alone. Harry and Ron still hadn't come to apologize and though they hadn't spilled her secret to anyone, she wasn't going to hunt them down and beg for their friendship. It had been this way as long as she could remember. The boys always banded together when one of them had an issue with her and she was left to fend for herself while they comforted each other without her.

She had checked out several books from the library and had begun taking her meals in her room. Minerva had stopped in to talk to her, and when Hermione asked her about Severus she said that he hadn't been out of his rooms either. It was good to know some people still cared about her, but she wasn't ready to face the world yet, so she continued her regime of being a hermit.

Little did Hermione know that while she was secluding herself in her room, Harry and Ron were scheming on how to win her friendship back. Being the boys they are and the lives they have led, they had a tendency to over complicate things. All they had to do was apologize to her and they could begin mending their friendship again, but all this seemed too easy to actually work.

In fact, at that very moment the boys were holding a brain storming session (Hermione would be so proud) about different ways to get her back in their live once again. After at least two hours of half hearted ideas such as flowers and candy, the boys finally realized that they had to do the unthinkable. They had to grovel to Snape. It was with resignation that they trooped down to the dungeons to implement their plan of attack.

When Severus heard the alarm signaling a visitor to his office, he was fully prepared to ignore it. However, when curiosity got the better of him he was surprised to see 2/3 of the golden trio looking decidedly glum. He opened the door with his best sneer in place, but unfortunately boy wonder and his sidekick never had enough sense to be properly scared of him.

"Well" he hissed "what do you want?"

It was Harry that spoke up first. "Sir, we screwed up. Badly."

When Severus ceased to look surprised, but refrained from scathing comments, the boys took it as consent to continue, but this time it was Ron who spoke.

"Professor Snape, Hermione told us about the two of you. Unfortunately the rumor is that we acted exactly like the idiots you predicted, and now Hermione is miserable. She doesn't have us and what's worse, she doesn't have you."

"So" Harry picked up where Ron left off "We came to extend the proverbial olive branch. We acted like prats, and now that we have that out of our system we have decided to act like adults and do whatever we can to make her happy again. For some reason being with you makes her very happy. Professor Snape, it has been a long time since I have felt any ill will towards you. I fully admit that I said and did some things that would cause anyone to hate me, but I am not my father, and now I finally realize that I can love him without emulating every thing he was. He treated you like dirt and there was no reason for it. I am sorry." When Harry finished his spiel, with Ron fervently nodding in agreement the entire time, he extended his hand towards Snape.

For his part, Severus was fully prepared to forcefully remove them from his presence, but when Harry looked at him with Lily's eyes, the eyes he could never deny anything to, he found himself reaching forward and grasping hands with the boy. Well, man now.

"Alright apology accepted and I suppose I could have been a bit fairer to you through out the years as well. Though if you tell anyone I apologized to you, we are back to square one and I reserve the right to hate you again."

Harry smiled at this and fervently agreed to the demand.

"Well I guess we better put our heads together and find a way to crawl back to her on our knees and grovel" Ron said.

"What do you mean? I was just going to floo into her rooms and apologize" Severus replied.

Both boys looked at him then like he was either the dumbest or bravest man on earth causing Severus to shake his head.

"Listen Mate" Severus looked startled at being called mate by the youngest Weasley male, but recover admirably enough. "You need to warm her up from afar first. She could do you some serious damage if you go barging in on her."

"She wouldn't hurt me! She is a reasonable adult and will give me a chance to explain, and then I will tell her that you two came to me to talk she will forgive you as well" Severus replied confidently.

Harry looked at him skeptically for a moment but just shrugged it off. "Have it your way sir. But, I think it's only fair to warn you that she kept Rita Skeeter in a jar for two moths, just because she wrote some nasty articles. You broke her heart."

Severus looked startled at hearing this, and quickly acquiesced to the boys' line of thinking. He asked them to be in his quarters on New Years Eve by nine o'clock in the evening, promising to have them back in her good graces by then. Then he quickly excused himself and began to scheme on how to win Hermione back.

Hermione woke the next morning ready to begin another day of seclusion, but before she could fully awake, a sweet smell met her nostrils. When her eyes had fully opened she gasped at what she saw. All around her room, on every available surface were vases of flowers. There were lilies and orchids, Roses and Violets. The mingling scents were intoxicating and almost against her will, Hermione found herself smiling. It wasn't long after she had wandered around the room smelling the individual bouquets that Dobby popped in with a breakfast tray for her.

"Dobby? What are you doing here? I didn't ask for breakfast yet."

"Dobby knows miss, but Master Snape asked Dobby to bring you this breakfast tray."

"Oh, alright Dobby, thank you very much."

When Dobby set the tray upon the small table in her room Hermione noticed the scroll on the tray and with a sigh she sat down to read it. She wasn't ready to forgive him yet, but she must admit he was right and she would at least see what he had to say. She sat on the edge of her bed and with some trepidation unrolled the scroll and began to read.

Hermione-

I wish there was something to say to make you forgive me, but I fear that anything I could come up with would sound shallow and insincere in written form. I feel like the lowest form of creature on this planet right now, and after many bottles of booze and an equal number of sleepless nights I have come to a conclusion. I can not live with out you. For nearly eighteen years I have lived a miserable sort of half existence, but when the war finally ended I felt like even that half life was stolen from me. Where was my purpose in life now? Then you showed up. Sitting on the end of that pier looking like you would sprout wings and soar to heaven at any moment. My life hasn't been the same since then, and if I die today I would die a happy man knowing I had at least six months with an angel. I would walk a thousand miles and go through a dozen more wars just to be with you again. For now, all I ask is that you continue to apprentice under me. Though the apprenticeship was a wonderful cover for us to see each other, I have yet to meet another as worthy of the title of Potions Master as you. Please do not allow me to ruin this opportunity for you. I beseech you to please meet me at my quarters at 9:30 pm on New Years Eve so that we may try to talk things over. I love you Hermione, and I always will, but if you don't want to continue on with me then I swear on my Order of Merlin that I will remain your Professor and only that from this day forward.

I love you and will forever remain your servant,

Severus Tobias Snape

Hermione was openly crying by the end of the letter, so she sat at her desk to write a letter to him in return. She felt she should be a bit harsher on him then she was going to be, but in the end her heart was fluttering in her chest and she didn't want to torture herself along with him. She smoothed out a piece of parchment and began to pen her response.

Severus-

I have received your letter and decided that I will join you on New Years Eve. I suppose you have heard by now that I told my friends about us. They, like you predicted, were not pleased and I apologize for my anger towards you. I do love you and I always will, but I think we need to have a serious chat about our future. I refuse to be treated like a proper partner one moment, but when we disagree with each other to immediately be lowered to the level of a subordinate. No matter what we decide, I will continue my apprenticeship with you, because in the end you are the foremost expert on potions in the country. So, I will see you tomorrow evening, and thank you for the beautiful flowers.

Love,

Hermione

She sent the letter through the floo to his rooms, and went to the bathroom to sink into a relaxing bath and plan her wardrobe for the next evening. She knew in her heart now that everything would work out, and she was able to enjoy the rest of her day. She even considered finding Harry and Ron, but decided that they needed to apologize to her first.

The next day Severus had several house elves to clean his room and prepare for guests. He had contacted Minerva and let her know that the group would be with him, and welcomed her to stop by later in the evening. It had been a long time since anyone but he and Hermione had been in his rooms, with the exception of Ginny that one evening. Of course thinking about that evening left him with a rather hard problem, and he was forced into his bedroom to rectify that situation.

He was rather ashamed of himself for wanking off when he should have been preparing for the evening, but a cold shower was not going to help him out in this situation. He lay back upon his bed and with agile fingers slipped his buttons through the holes and released his length, hissing when the cold air touched his heated flesh. He smoothed the pre cum around his engorged head smoothed his fist over the shaft tightening his grip and moving with controlled motions. It wasn't long before hand had sped up and his movements became erratic while he thrust into his palm. The visions of that night with Hermione and Ginny were dancing behind his eyelids and caused him to come with a shout.

He took a moment to collect himself and scourgify the mess he had made before neatly tucking himself away and returning to work. He had brewed several bottles of hangover potion for the group and had sent a house elf to procure champagne, wine, butterbeer, and some of that wonderful butterscotch schnapps from muggle London. He had also sent another one of the elves on a special errand. The day passed quickly and before he knew it he was dressing for the evening, choosing the horrid light blue shirt that he hated, but Hermione swore made him look irresistible.

Nine o'clock rolled around and the group surprised him by not only showing up on time to wait for Hermione, but with platters of food and bottles of Blaise's wine from his parent's vineyard. The group sat and talked for the remaining half hour and Severus filled them in on his plans for the evening.

Hermione arrived at exactly nine thirty looking beautiful in loose black trousers and coincidently, a thick sweater in pale blue. She knocked on Severus' door and when he opened it to her, they both looked embarrassed at their close to matching outfits. They looked away from each other in an awkward moment, but when he presented his arm for her to take, their uneasiness dissolved at the first touch. He smiled sincerely at her and led her to the sitting room where she was shocked to find her friends there waiting for her.

Something must have been put into the food, for poison was the only conclusion she could come to for Severus to allow six students, four of them Gryffindors, into his quarters. After she got over the initial shock of seeing them there, her anger came back full force, but before she could get on a roll, the boys recognized the warning signs and came forward with their peace offerings.

Ron came forward with a huge bouquet of roses and Harry was beside him with a stack of brand new books for her. They sure knew the way to her heart by now, though she did feel bad that she probably had a greenhouse full of flowers in her possession by now. They smiled weekly at her and began their well rehearsed speech.

"Hermione" Harry started "We were so wrong not to give you a chance to explain yourself, and you have every right in the world to hate us for putting you through that."

"We have proved to you time and again that no matter how much we love you, we are still incapable of opening our mouths and having something useful come out of them" Ron finished.

"Boys, I accept your apology. And don't say that Ron, you both are very intelligent and have wonderful hearts, which is why I can be so hard on you. If you would stop and think before you have a knee jerk reaction to something you feel, everything would be so much easier to work out. I am sorry too though. I never meant to keep how I feel about Severus from any of you, but I didn't expect us to last past the summer, and by the time I fell in love with him, I was too far in to turn around."

"We know Hermione, and to prove how sorry we are for not trusting you, we have spent the last three days doing all of our work through February and we have drawn up our own NEWTs study schedule and already begun it." Ron explained.

She embraced the two of them and as soon as they moved away to get themselves something to drink Hermione joined Millicent and Ginny and thanked them for writing the boys NEWTs schedule and letting them take credit for it. The three of them laughed and smiled and it wasn't long before Hermione had found her way back to Severus and had perched herself on his lap in his armchair. They had snuggled up to each other comfortably and while they weren't looking Draco snapped a photo of the two. They had a wonderful evening together, and Hermione took Severus' acceptance of her friends as more of a commitment then anything.

When midnight chimed the group lifted their champagne glasses in a toast and everyone was surprised when Severus lowered himself on one knee and proposed to Hermione. He opened the velvet box he had clutched the entire night, and presented her with a platinum band. It held a large diamond in the center, with smaller emeralds and rubies embedded in the band.

"I love you with all of my heart Hermione, and I know with out a doubt that without you, my life ceases to matter. For the first time in my life you have let me see the kind of man I could be and the kind of life I can live and I never want to live without that. We don't have to get married right away; I will wait as long as you want, but these past few days without you have been hell, and please say you will be mine."

Hermione beamed down at him and he soon found himself flat on his back on the floor with Hermione straddling him and kissing him soundly. When he emerged from under her red faced and out of breath sheepishly looking at her friends, the tension was broken when Ron stupidly asked whether she said yes or not. The group groaned and smacked him playfully, but quickly said their goodbye to the lovebirds, leaving them alone to "celebrate" their happy news.

They walked their guests to the door and Hermione gave hugs all around and promises to catch up with them tomorrow. She smiled as they retreated, already hearing Ginny and Millicent fighting over the color of the bridesmaids gowns. She chuckled lightly and closed the door turning to Severus and smiling widely. It took barely a second before they were intertwined with each other, kissing passionately and tearing at their clothes. Once they had stripped completely and made their way clumsily to his bedroom, Severus was surprised to find himself tied to the bed and being leered at by Hermione.

"I have decided that tonight I will take my time and learn every inch of your amazing body Severus" and with that she conjured a bottle of chocolate sauce and heated it. She dripped it over his body and watched as he squirmed against the restraints, his cock reaching out desperately for attention. The beautiful shaft twitched when she drizzled chocolate on it and Severus felt like he was going to explode when she poked her pink tongue out and began licking patterns in the sauce cleaning him off.

"Oh Severus, you make me so wet. I can't keep my hands off of you, and when I watch you in class I have to use everything I have to not jump over the desk and fuck you in front of everyone."

Severus was getting very turned on listening to her talk like that and he was getting very impatient with her teasing.

"Hermione love, let me go so I can pound into you. Don't you want my thick cock sliding into you? You feel so good and so tight, like your cunt was made for me."

"Oh Severus, I want to let you up so I can feel you inside of me, but I'm not done with you yet." she replied in a throaty voice while before she licked her fingertips and ran them over her tight nipples.

She then leaned forward and licked from his kneecaps to his inner thighs before lightly sucking his balls into her mouth and running her tongue over them. Severus gasped and bucked, loving the feel of her mouth on him, and it wasn't long before Hermione grew impatient with the light licks and touching and she waved her wand, releasing him from his bonds. With lightening fast reflexes he shot up and pulled her on top of him, his cock sliding home.

They fucked with wild abandon and they were both reduced to quivering masses, on cloud nine over one of the most passionate nights they had ever had. She rode him fast and hard and reveled in the feel of his balls slapping against her. He suddenly slipped out of her and thrust his glistening member in her face.

"Lick your juices off of my cock, love." and when she moved forward to comply he groaned and encouraged her. "That's right; use your hot little mouth to wipe me clean. Do you like the way you taste? I can't get enough of your essence Hermione, its like ambrosia."

He pulled away from her mouth and slid into her again, reveling in the moans she made. He surprised her however, by sucking on his finger and when it was good and wet sliding it into her ass. She bucked against him unused to the feeling, but it wasn't long before she grew accustomed to it and was moaning loudly at the feeling.

"Fuck baby" she groaned "that feels so good. You feel so good. You fill me up so perfectly and ahhhhhhhhhh" she screamed out, seeing white bursts of light on the back of her eyelids as she came hard and fast. Severus felt her body tensing and gritted his teeth slamming both his cock and his finger into her hard and grunting when her body milked his release from him.

They collapsed in a heap together and took deep gulps of air trying to calm themselves. After a few minutes of lying motionless Severus rose to run a bath for the two of them and they spent hours planning their future and bathing each other.

A/N: Okay so I actually had no intention of having Snape propose. I was planning this whole pregnancy thing, but damn Severus popped the question before I could tell him not to! I look like half a chipmunk right now, because I only got the left side pulled today and though I had planned on writing responses to your wonderful reviews, I am actually going to take a nap! YAY SLEEP! So I love you all and I will try to post again later tonight.


	21. Unexpected Discoveries

Chapter 21... Unexpected Discoveries

The months after Christmas holiday proved to be just as slippery as the months before it, and winter quickly melted into spring. Severus and Hermione had begun planning their wedding and were working hard on her final year potions project. Severus had groaned when she announced she wanted to work on a cure for Lycanthropy and had done everything in his power to change her mind. It wasn't that he didn't care about finding a cure, but he had worked on it for many years and gotten practically nowhere. He didn't want her hopes to be dashed when she couldn't do something so ambitious.

For her part, Hermione knew that the chance of her succeeding was slim, but she was willing to spend the rest of her life working on it and would consider it time well spent if she could even make the transformation a bit less painful. Remus was such a wonderful man, and since he and Tonks had finally gotten together, he was so much happier, but he deserved to be whole man, not the torture soul he was as of now.

Together Severus and Hermione spent many nights working on the cure and then making slow sweet love. Their wedding was set for the end of June and they had decided to hold it at the Burrow. She was hoping to have the cure done by then so that they could present it to Remus at the wedding. The research was going surprisingly well, though it was increasingly frustrating, leaving them with them with the feeling that they were on the verge of the discovery, but it was still just out of reach.

Hermione had decided to keep the project a secret, for fear of getting peoples hopes up then disappointing them. They had spent months researching ingredients and studying lycanthropy, had gone on outings several times to collect fresh ingredients, and had filled several journals with notes on brewing ideas. However tonight was a very special night, it was the night they were to begin testing their ideas.

They stood side by side in the lab lining up cauldrons of all different sizes and materials, and setting out the ingredients they had gathered. Severus looked to Hermione and smiled to himself, she was shiny faced and nearly bouncing out of her shoes in excitement.

"Okay Hermione, this is your project, what cauldron do you think we should use?" She looked excited at being able to give her opinion and thought hard for a few moments.

"Well, on one hand the silver cauldron seems out of the question, knowing how werewolves react to silver. Though I am beginning to think that if the potion is brewed with a moonflower base, it will direct the silver to work only against the lycanthrope gene and not against the werewolf's human form. If given this potion during the day on a full moon cycle, I think it could be beneficial."

Severus looked impressed at her logic and stood with his finger tapping his chin for a few moments before he answered her.

"I believe you are right, especially about the moonflower base reacting with the silver, but the traditional counterpart to moonflower is red algae, which would react very badly with the silver, so we need to find a substitute for that."

With that said Hermione nodded her head in agreement and set the wheels in her head turning while they grabbed the silver cauldron and started on the base. When it was time to add the algae, they added the red despite their hunch, just to see how it would react. As predicted, the base turned thick and gooey and was immediately cleared ad given up as a bad idea. When Hermione's furrowed brows suddenly separated and her face lit up, Severus was keen to hear her idea. Whenever she got that look, she said something brilliant, and he knew she wouldn't disappoint him this time.

"What about kelp Severus?"

"Huh?" He responded less then eloquently.

"What if we use oceanic kelp Severus? It is still a living organism, like the algae, but it would react much more neutrally. Red alga is nothing but green algae that has been agitated. That is going to happen whenever we heat the algae, so there is no way to keep it neutral and still use it. I think kelp could work, though it's a plant and not an algae, it's used quite often in both the muggle and magical worlds!"

Severus pondered this and was immediately impressed with her line of thought. Though he didn't have any kelp and would need to harvest some, which meant putting off the brewing again until next week. Hermione was upset they wouldn't get to try her idea out right away, but was excited that Severus thought it was even a plausible thought.

They kissed goodnight at the door to the lab, and Severus made Hermione promise to eat more and sleep late the next morning, for she was looking a little peakish. She smiled sweetly at his concern, and promised to do as he asked. Then each set off for their quarters, yawning slightly but very excited about their near success.

The next week came and went with their potion base a success. The excitement was short lived however, when they couldn't seem to get the next phase to do anything but turn a garish pink and turn into a watery consistency. They had tried everything they could think of, from phoenix tears to Remus' own blood. Nothing worked, and it was nearly May with no results, when during an evening with short tempers and shorter patience a breakthrough finally came.

The couple had been brewing in a small silver cauldron, noticing earlier that month that making larger batches diluted the potion too much, when Hermione sliced her finger open while chopping wormwood. Severus rushed over to her, concerned, but watching in horrifyingly slow motion as she quickly brought her finger to her face to examine the wound, causing a small droplet to splash into the potion. He quickly grabbed her and ducked, but when no explosion came he stood cautiously and examined the potion. It had turned an iridescent blue, and held the consistency of cough syrup. It was perfect!

Severus picked Hermione up and kissed her passionately while spinning in fast circles, but the excitement was short lived when they realized they had a long night ahead of them trying to figure out why her blood had worked. They rebrewed the potion simultaneously in several cauldrons and watched with bated breath while Severus added a drop of his own blood, and the potion turned a sickly yellow brown. They then called Ginny down to the lab and had her add a drop of her blood, thinking it had to be female blood, but this time the potion turned fire red and congealed.

Again and again they tried many different peoples blood. From Filch's to Minerva's, but only Hermione's blood caused the effect they were looking for. He thought it was because she was muggleborn, but even that turned out to be a dead end. Finally at his wits end, Severus asked Madame Pomfrey to run a diagnostic on Ginny and Hermione to find if there were any health differences between the two, thinking it may have to do with Hermione's blood type.

Madame Pomfrey checked the girls' blood types, but actually confirmed in an unlikely coincidence that they were both B positive, so she ran an overall health check. It showed Ginny as a normal healthy young lady, but when she waved her wand over Hermione she turned red and her eyes grew wide as she looked at Hermione. Becoming concerned, Hermione asked the mediwitch what was wrong, and was pulled to into the potions store room for a discussion in clipped tones.

When the two emerged, Pomfrey was quickly on her way telling Hermione to see her in the morning for more instructions. Hermione looking white and shaken, asked Ginny to leave her and Severus to talk for a moment. After Ginny had nodded and politely excused herself, a very shaken Hermione sat on the edge of a desk and looked at Severus.

"Severus, I know why my blood is different then Ginny's"

"I don't care about that, what is going on? Are you alright?" He spoke fast, concern evident in his voice as his strong hands engulfed her smaller shaking ones.

"I suppose I am okay, it depends on how you look at it I guess. Severus, my blood works in the potion for two reasons that I can think of. The first is that I willingly give it for the cure."

"That doesn't make sense Hermione; all the other willingly gave their blood samples as well." Her interrupted, but stopped himself from going on when she held a hand to stop him

"The other reason Darling, I believe is because I am pregnant."

She didn't have time to gauge his reaction for herself, for she found a moment after telling him the news, she was running to the floo to call Madame Pomfrey again. However, this time it was for Severus, who upon hearing the news, had dropped the vial he was holding and promptly collapsed upon the floor.

A/N: So sorry about the cliffhanger, the story is moving very quickly now, and I ma not so sure I like how fast it's going. Though I must admit I have an idea for a quick little PWP that I would like to get down, but I want to finish this story first. Hope all of you enjoy!

amd2175- I must admit I was rather mad at Snape for sneaking in the proposal too, but then again maybe I could arrange a chat between him and my boyfriend. We had been dating for a little over five years now, and I am hoping he would sneak in a proposal while I was drugged up as well. Lol. No can do though. I wish I could writ e down what I wanted him to do and have him follow it!

Heidi191976- I decided to push the pregnancy up a bit due to your suggestion. I am happy with the way they found out, and I think I would of waited another chapter or two if it weren't for your idea. So, thanks a million, I am happy with this chapter, other then the glaringly obvious fact that I can not convincingly BS my way through a potions recipe.


	22. With a Baby?

Chapter 21... With a Baby?

Madame Pomfrey rushed through the floo to care for Severus, she assumed he had fainted because of side affects of potion fumes, or some other careless reason. Hermione kept her mouth shut on that front, and let her keep on believing that, no need to tell her she was looking at her child's daddy. Her child? Whoa, she thought, that sounds awfully odd.

When Severus awoke and had been gingerly ushered to the large padded chair in his office, he looked around to ensure they were alone once more, and looked at Hermione.

"Love, I just had the weirdest dream, you came into the lab, invented a cure for Lycanthropy, then told me you were pregnant." Hermione laughed nervously and nibbled on her lower lip.

"Severus darling, please don't faint again, but all that actually happened."

"So you're really pregnant?"

"Yes Severus, I really am."

"With a baby?"

"Well, no actually that's the weird part, I'm not sure how it happened, but I am actually pregnant with the giant squid's offspring." And when Severus continued to look confused, Hermione shouted at him in an exasperated voice.

"YES SEVERUS! WITH A BLOODY BABY!"

She immediately calmed down, and was extremely surprised when she was lifted and swung in a circle. She looked into his eyes, feeling a bit confused by his enthusiasm, but was calmed when he pressed his lips against her passionately and murmured the words "I'm going to be a daddy" in her ear. This was the last thing she expected, and was quick to bring him down to earth once again.

"Honey, I am so glad your happy about this, but what do we do now? You can get fired, I can get expelled, and most of all, Minerva will be so disappointed in us. I don't know how this happened, I have been on muggle birth control pills and when I came to Hogwarts this year I switched to the potion."

"It doesn't matter how it happened Hermione" Severus replied softly "It just matters that it did happen. I was going to leave school at the end of this year anyway, and NEWTS are only about two weeks away for you. You won't be showing for while now, we don't have to tell anyone until you leave school. Sure it will be a little harder to support ourselves and the baby, but I still have plenty of money. I was going to sell Spinners end and buy us a new place, but since it has a nursery, we will keep it for now. It will all be okay Hermione. How far along are you anyway?"

Hermione's breathing was coming out more evenly by this point, glad after his little fainting spell, Severus was able to keep a clear head and come up with a plan. She counted on her finger to herself to try and come up with a response to his question.

"I am due for my period next week, and I had it last month, so I can't be more then two or three weeks along. I will go see Madame Pomfrey in the morning and find out the details. I am glad you want this baby Severus. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"Hermione, I would never deny you or our child. I am not a perfect man and I never will be, but I have never lied to you. I love you, and I will love our child just as much. Can I go to the appointment with you tomorrow?"

Hermione had tears in her eyes, and was once again surprised by the softer side of her beloved. She desperately wanted him to be with her for the appointment in the morning, but wasn't sure how well it would go over with Madame Pomfrey. However, before she could give him an answer, the flames in the fireplace flared green, and Professor McGonagall stepped through.

"Well, you two had better explain. Poppy is terribly confused at to why Miss Granger's pregnancy could cause Severus to faint."

"Oh no! I thought she believed it was fumes from the potion that knocked him out." Hermione said, beginning to get upset again, but Severus was quick to pull her into a comforting embrace and rub soothing circle in her back.

"Hermione, it isn't good for the child if you get yourself upset all the time, you need to try and keep calm. We love each other and haven't done anything wrong. It will all work out." He soothed her expertly.

"He's right Hermione. This isn't so bad, we will keep it quiet until after you graduate, and by that time it will be too late for anyone to take any action against anyone. I have told Poppy of the situation, and she has agreed to keep it quiet, so Severus you are welcome to accompany your fiancée to her appointment in the morning. Now should you be around these fumes?"

Hermione immediately backed away from the cauldrons, not sure at all if she should be near them. Again, Severus was ready with the answer.

"It's okay to be around them for now. There are certain ones you will be restricted from until after you have delivered the child, but in the first trimester you will be alright. Most of these will be very advanced, so you will be okay taking your potions NEWT, but to be on the safe side I will list the volatile ones so you know."

Everyone seemed pacified by this answer, and there was a moment of awkward silence while they tried to decide what else needed to be discussed. Just then a lumos seemed to go off over Hermione's head and it wasn't long before she was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. When the two professors looked at her in question she raised her eyebrows towards Severus and pointed towards the cauldron.

In all the excitement they had completely forgotten about what they believed to be their successful potion.

"Minerva" Severus started urgently "will you please send an owl to Remus and ask him to arrive here the morning of the next full moon cycle." She nodded but made no move to do as he asked, she just raised her eyebrows waiting for an explanation.

Hermione picked up on the question and was the first to answer her. "We think we may have found a cure for Lycanthropy. The catch is that it had to be administered during the full moon cycle, but while the werewolf is in human form. We want to test it on Remus this month."

Severus picked up quickly where she trailed off and finished the explanation. "We will provide a room for him on the chance that the potion doesn't work. Actually, I have high hopes for the success of this. Hermione's own blood went into it. The blood willingly given from a pregnant woman can be powerful. It was an accident that it was added to the potion, but her heart was still in the right place when she cut herself. The full moon is during the NEWTs, so Hermione will be stretched a bit thin, but I am sure that the examiners will show her a bit of leniency for something like this."

Minerva nodded her head in agreement and threw her arms around the couple with tears in her eyes. "I can't believe this! I knew you two would be wonderful together, but you have proved to be unstoppable. I am so excited about this and I will send Remus an owl right away."

After Minerva left, Severus and Hermione carefully noted the processes of the potion and bottled it with reverence. They cleaned the lab and both feeling exhausted from the emotional roller coaster they had been on that day, decided to spend the night in Severus' quarters.

They awoke in the morning with about an hour to spare before the appointment with Madame Pomfrey and shared a leisurely breakfast before dressing and heading off the infirmary. They walked slowly and though they wanted nothing more then to hold each other the entire way up there, they were forced to keep up the appearance of Professor and Student.

When they arrived, they were relieved to find that no students were there, and they were quickly ushered to a private room to begin the examination. They listened respectfully while they were given a lecture about being responsible and now children were having children and when she showed no signs of stopping anytime soon Hermione finally got annoyed and put up a hand to stop her rant.

"Madame Pomfrey, I appreciate your concern and you have never been anything but a caring and wonderful role model for me. First of all though, I am not a child and I will give my baby everything it needs to grow up in a healthy and loving environment. Second of all, I have been using contraceptive potions since I became sexually active, I can't help it if I decided to sleep with someone who has super sperm."

Madame Pomfrey looked surprised at being chastised at first, but this quickly turned into a battle to stifle her laugh while Severus tried to figure out whether having "super sperm" was an insult or a compliment. Hermione quickly stepped into calm him down with a quick assurance that she was proud to have such a virile male as a future husband, and once again Pomfrey found herself impressed at how she handled him.

"Okay then, on with the exam. Hermione Please lie down, there is no need to undress as you will need to see a specialist in St. Mungo's for your actual prenatal care. I am just running a few diagnostics, confirming the pregnancy, the sex of the child, and the overall health of it and you." With gentle hands she pushed Hermione back on the exam bed and murmured a few spells while running her wand over her.

She looked up and smiled widely, her earlier irritation at the couple's irresponsibility completely gone in the face of having a little one running around.

"It seems as though you are completely healthy Hermione, though I know how hard you work yourself and I will be giving you a standard vitamin potion before you leave here today. Your child is perfectly healthy, though you are only about three weeks along and I can't confirm it for about another month, but I believe you are having twin girls."

"Quick!" Hermione shouted, looking at Severus "Get him a chair Madame Pomfrey I think he is going to faint again!"

Her reflexes were lightning fast, and with a flick of her wrist Severus had floated gracefully into the chair she had slid underneath him. At this point, Hermione just smiled and lightly slapped Severus on the cheek to wake him. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off quickly by Hermione who was becoming a pro at his fainting spells.

"No Severus it wasn't a dream. Yes Severus we may be having twins, and finally yes you are going to be the dad to at least one baby girl who I hope more than anything doesn't inherit my hair or your nose."

The color was quickly returning to his cheeks, and like last time he was quick to shower her with kisses and begin making plans. He was ready to run out and begin buying baby supplies, before Hermione and Madame Pomfrey managed to calm him down long enough to convince him to wait until they had confirmation about the twins. He agreed, though he looked a little sheepish at his reaction, but was quick to jot a note to St. Mungo's to make an appointment for Hermione.

They left the infirmary and went to tell Minerva of the news then were going to let her friends in on the couple's latest development. It was turning out to be another long day, but the hopes of it letting up anytime soon was slim with NEWTs and testing the cure all coming up in the next week or so. The couple ran their errands, and then separated to give them each a chance to get started on everything that needed to be done.

A/N: I got another chapter out! YAY! Lol, I love all of my reviewers and you all make me smile and laugh, which still hurts a bit right now because of the whole teeth pulling thing, but that's okay! So I know twins seem a little cliché, but I just can't help it, I have always wanted twins. Therefore as usual I will live vicariously through my story. I hope to hear from all of you soon!


	23. Are We Done Yet?

Chapter 23... Are We Done Yet?

Hermione spent somewhere around 18 hours a day studying for her NEWTs while Severus spent around the same amount of time perfecting the Lycanthropy cure for testing on Remus. The couple had seen very little of each other since the crazy night in the lab, and it was reeking havoc on Hermione's already stressed nerves. Her hormones were changing quickly as well, and she used it as an excuse to boss her friends into working harder at their studying. They were quick to listen to her, not wanting to get on the wrong side of her, now that they knew she was pregnant.

Hermione had sat all of her friends down the evening after she found out she was pregnant and let them all in on the news. They surprised her with the wide array of reactions to the big news, but after a few moments they were all testing out their new roles in her life by adding Aunt or Uncle in front of their names. They had all agreed to keep the information secret until after graduation, but were disappointed to hear that they couldn't follow her around with their hands on her belly. They perked up a bit though when she reminded them that it would be a couple of months before they would feel anything anyway.

For once however, Hermione's news was not the most surprising news the group was treated to. After considerable thought on his part, Draco had come to a decision. He said he just could not hold it in any longer, and with assurances from the group that nothing could make them hate him again he confessed his undying love for Neville. Of course the group laughed and was ready to take the mickey out of him for the bad joke when they realized he wasn't kidding. From that moment on Neville was officially adopted into the group of friends, and managed to only turn slightly red at being asked if Hermione's children could refer to them as Uncle Neville and Aunt Draco.

With the good natured teasing out of the way, the friends got on with their studying, with the exception of Ginny who was still blissfully unconcerned, having another year to worry about NEWTs. The days passed in a blur and it wasn't long before a forlorn looking group of seventh years trudged down to breakfast and spent an hour shifting food around their plates while going over last minute notes. For Hermione, this was one year where she was not a complete wreck. She had finally figured out that their was a lot more to her life then test scores, and knew she would be alright no matter what. That realization of course did not stop her from taking every opportunity to study though.

History of Magic passed in an uncomprehendingly dull blur, Ancient Runes wasn't much better, though Hermione was quite fond of the subject. Arithmancy, as always was interesting, but the examiner had horrible breath and Hermione found it quite difficult to concentrate until she could secretly cast a freshening charm on him. Transfigurations had always been one of her better subjects, so she wasn't overly surprised at her ease in completing that NEWT, and in Charms and Defense against the Dark Arts she became a bit flustered by the attention she received at being THE Hermione Granger.

Finally Friday rolled around, and she was left only with her potions NEWT. Severus and her had given Remus the potion that morning, and were very optimistic about its success. Remus had already reported decreased feelings of aggression and his senses were what they normally were during the regular moon phases. This of course meant that they were still heightened, but nowhere near as sensitive as what they normally were. The big test would be when they locked him in the rooms that evening and waited to see if he would transform.

Hermione was nervous all day, and when she went to sit for her potions practical, the examiner took one look at her bouncing legs and agitated air and was quick to reassure her that potions wasn't as difficult as it seemed, as long as she concentrated. That was until he looked down to the roster and saw who he was testing. After that he was quick to join her in her bouncing, and spent a good half hour before the exam asking her questions about the potion that would be tested that evening. Though for the most part the testing on Remus was supposed to be kept very quiet, they still had to register for a permit to test on a human subject with the ministry; therefore the man testing her knew what was going on. He was very keen on hearing the results, and awarded Hermione extra points at the end of the exam for working on what he deemed such a noble cause.

Finally with all her testing out of the way, Hermione raced through the halls of Hogwarts, and into the dungeons. Severus of course was dutifully waiting for her with the largest bunch of calla lilies she had ever seen before. She had asked him sometime before about his tendency to give her muggle flowers instead of magical ones, and he had simply responded that having been around magical plants for so long, he found the muggle varieties to be infinitely more exotic.

Since finding out she was pregnant, Severus had become very protective over her and her health, and though it was sweet and fun now, Hermione could see it becoming very tiresome quickly. After giving her the flowers, he immediately took them back to put them in water insisting she relax, and conjured a squashy arm chair and ottoman for her to relax in while they waited for Remus to arrive. She gratefully sank into it and scooted over so Severus could squish in next to her. They chatted for awhile about her exams, then the wedding and were quite cozy when Remus finally arrived.

He was quick to wrap Hermione in his arms and peck kisses all over her face in gratitude. Though he managed to keep himself from attacking Remus, Severus was certain he did not like another man touching his Hermione like that. Though he couldn't verbalize his true intentions towards her just yet, Severus was quick to distract the werewolf from his fiancée.

"Remus if you are done manhandling my apprentice, I would appreciate it if I could check your vital signs and get on with this test. We will have dinner brought up here so I can monitor exactly how much and what you eat, then we will lock you in that room" he gestured to a door on the other side of the lab "and place a window spell on the door so we can monitor your behavior."

Remus nodded his head in understanding, and stepped forward to have all his stats checked.

"Remus, is it alright that I stay and monitor you as well? I had intended to all along, but I don't want to make you uncomfortable" Hermione asked, though she fully intended to whine until he said yes if he wasn't intending on letting her stay.

"I must admit, I am a bit nervous about you being here, but only because of what I am like when I transform. If the cure isn't effective then you will see a side of me that I had hoped no one ever would have to witness. However, you have more then earned my trust, so of course you are welcome to stay." He answered shyly.

With the preliminaries out of the way, they group settled in and had a light dinner. Not wanting Remus to eat too much, because they were unsure how he would react with too full a stomach. When the time came to lock him in the room, it was with a mix of excitement and apprehension that they smiled at each other and locked him in for the night. Severus cast the charm to be able to see through the door, which now worked like a two way mirror, and they settled in for a long night.

It was several hours before anything interesting happened, and even at that it was just Remus yawning widely and stretching. It was the most boring, exciting night of their lives. The potion was a success! He not only didn't transform, but their seemed to be no adverse effects. All of his vital signs had stayed normal the entire night and when he was released the next morning, Remus reported feeling fine the entire night, except some mild insomnia, which they all chalked up to be nerves.

After confirming the results, the three immediately flooed Minerva, who was ecstatic at the news and immediately set out to prepare a feast of celebration in the Great Hall. It wasn't long before the entire wizarding world had heard of the breakthrough, and people were offering Hermione apprenticeships left and right, which she flatly refused to even consider, for as she said "I am already studying under the foremost expert in potions alive today, and without his genius the Remus Potion (which they had decided to name it) would not have been possible". When Severus heard this, his chest puffed out in pride, and for once in his life he began to think that just maybe the world would accept him.

Their collaborative efforts on the cure had helped secure Hermione's place as an adult in the eyes of the world. Because of this elevation in her status, Hermione and Severus believed that once they announced their impending marriage in public, they would have a few more people on their side. So, it was with extremely happy hearts that they attended every feast and ball that was given in their honor and RSVP'd to speak at several potions conferences during the summer.

With that very happy discovery behind them, the couple was free to fully concentrate on the final touches of their wedding, to which Hermione sill hadn't bought her dress for, and the appointment the following week with the prenatal wizard. They parents to be were excited and nervous as they discussed their plans for their children, but they were both pleased to see how alike their values for raising their children were.

The day of the appointment finally rolled around, and the couple flooed to St. Mungo's to see the Mediwizard assigned to them. All in all, the appointment went very well, though Hermione had to stop Severus from hitting the healer when he asker her to undress. She quickly handed Severus some brochures to leaf through that explained the processes during the exams, and gently chastised the healer for not warning a first time father that he was going to ask his intended to strip.

A few fancy wand movements later, the Mediwizard confirmed Madame Pomfrey's suspicions and announced that in eight months they would be the proud parents of two baby girls. Hermione and Severus were besides themselves with joy and the only way Hermione could convince her fiancée not to go directly to the little wizards and witches shop from St. Mungo's was to remind him of her plans to go dress shopping with Ginny after their appointment. He reluctantly agreed to wait for her, though he was disappointed in her insistence that he not go baby shopping without her.

After they had flooed back to the castle, they gave each other a few lingering kisses goodbye. Severus was on a mission to alert everyone who could be trusted about the sex of his babies, and Hermione was on her way to meet Ginny and head out to find her dream wedding dress. She was very excited to shop for her gown, but after the long morning she had with Severus, the first words out of her mouth upon seeing Ginny were "Are we done yet?"

A/N: I am such a terrible slacker. That took me forever to get out. Thanks for sticking by me though, I love you all!

MarSnape- sorry it took me so long to answer you, but Crass, or at least the way I used it, means like rough around the edges. Someone who farts and recited dirty jokes could be considered crass for instance.

EruthiadwenGreenleaf- awww twin cousins? How cute. I can't wait until I can sneak fertility drugs into my morning coffee and pop out several kids at once. Lol. Don't tell my boyfriend, he still thinks he can get away with buying me a pony.

amd2175- good luck getting your wisdom teeth out! I hope all goes well with it. All things considered mine weren't too bad, it just seems like every time I go he decides to only take one out at a time. I swear he is doing it do I have to pay the co pay four times instead of just twice, lol. I was cracking up when I read about you and your bro singing the Tiny Toon Adventures song. Way to go!

Rose Evans- Than k you so much for the tip! It tried it and it was very soothing! Thank yo so much for reading and reviewing!

Heidi191976- Thank you so much!

NutsAboutHarry- Thank you so much, you are such an ego booster, lol. I never actually though I was much of a writer, but I had ideas that I wanted to get out of my head and onto paper, so I risked it.

Thank you so much to everyone for reading and reviewing, I love reading your comments they never cease to make me smile! I think I will wrap this story up in a few more chapters, then take some time to read the works by all the wonderful authors on this site that have given me support and new ideas.


	24. The Dress

Chapter 24... The Dress

Hermione and Ginny met up at the entrance to the Great Hall and prepared to leave. Naturally the fiery red head took the lead, and checked the list she had compiled of all the shops they should visit that day, determined to take care of almost everything while they were out. At the last minute Hermione had decided to invite Millicent along so she could pick out her dress for the wedding as well. Both girls were thrilled to have been asked to participate in the ceremony, and were willing to do whatever it took to make Hermione the pampered bride to be.

They set out on their excursion chatting the entire way to Hogsmeade, where the first bridal shop was located. Hermione confessed that she would have love to have the boys included in the ceremony, but she didn't think they would appreciate being "bridesmaids" the girls all laughed at this picturing all of them standing behind Hermione looking awkward in violent purple strapless dresses coming just below the boys hairy shoulders. They each took a moment to rid their head of that particular image, and stepped into the first shop.

Ginny was already marking the shop off her checklist and whispering timelines to Millicent. Hermione took a deep breath and stepped forward to begin rifling through racks and racks of beautiful gown. The salesperson was no where to be found when she had made her selections to try on, and so she left the gowns on the counter and hurried to the next shop with the girls, while Ginny made a note on her list to return there late if she hadn't found what she was looking for.

They had to floo to the next shop, and after a quick bite to eat at the three broomsticks they were on their way once again. The shop they had flooed into was easily three times the size of the previous store and Hermione quickly headed over to where he size was hanging. She picked out four dresses to try, some very expensive, and within a moment a sales girl was with her, taking the gowns and leading her to a dressing room on a raised platform. The girl showed Hermione the proper garments to wear under each dress and shoved the other two in the room with her so they could help her dress.

The first dress, a beautiful strapless was stunning on her, but the large skirt was a bit overwhelming on her small frame, so she put that one back and looked to the next one. This one both girls had to help her into, because it was skin tight and though it again looked stunning on her, she was sure she would pass out before she got down the aisle from oxygen deprivation. She knew she had only tried on two dresses so far, but Hermione was beginning to wear herself out already, and was infinitely grateful that she at least had magic to help her out of the dresses, she couldn't imagine doing this the muggle way.

By the second dress in the fifth store Hermione swore she would pick the next gown she tried on, just so she could sit in a chair and watch Ginny and Millicent struggle in bridesmaid's gown for the next two hours. As if she had read her mind, Millicent stepped up to Hermione with another dress, and a bottle of pepper up potion. After she was assured she could imbibe without endangering the babies, she threw back the potion, changed into the next dress, and feeling infinitely better stepped out of the dressing room in a gorgeous gown with smoke coming out of her ears. Despite the smoke, it was a lovely image and Hermione was instantly sure she had found THE dress.

The dress wad made of an ivory fabric, it felt almost satiny to the touch, but it felt and looked much heavier. It had a small sash across the top which fell off the shoulders, leaving them bare and continued down to her waist in a boned corset style top. The top ended in a v beneath her belly button which seamlessly flowed out to the full skirt and small train at the back. When Hermione turned to the girls with a huge smile she was shocked to see that they both had tears in their eyes. If anything confirmed that she had to have this dress that was it. They brought her choice to the counter and asked the salesgirl to show them similar styles in bridesmaid's gowns.

Ginny and Millicent each selected several gowns they liked, but in the end Hermione saved them the trouble of arguing over which ones they like best by picking for them. Ginny, as the maid of honor would be wearing a silk gown in pale gold that looked stunning with her hair and complexion. It had a wide scoop neck in front that continued around back, dipping low and stopping just above the swell of her buttocks. The skirt was long and clingy and flowed smoothly over the ground ending in a train a bit shorter then Hermione's. Millicent's dress was the same design, but in a beautiful navy blue that made her looked striking with her dark eyes and high cheekbone.

Hermione insisted on buying the girls dresses for them to say thank you for being in her ceremony. The three were ecstatic at having those chores finished, and they decided to grab a drink and a snack before heading the florist and finishing the final arrangements. The girls were all happy to sit and relax for awhile, and Ginny was very happy to be able to cross off a large portion of her list, but when she looked at them time, she threw money on the table for their pumpkin juices and ushered them to the florist for the appointment.

By the time the girls reached Hogwarts, they were all exhausted and Hermione was trying to convince Ginny to go into wedding planning as a career. Their purchases were being flooed to Hermione's room for safekeeping, so they headed strait to the great hall for dinner laughing and planning all the way.

While dinner was winding down, the seventh years were surprised to see an enormous group of owls heading towards them. When they dropped the letters in front of them, Hermione was stunned to see the ministry seal on them.

"Our NEWT results? Already? Oh Merlin, I thought we would have at least another month to wait, it's only been a week!" Hermione was clutching her letter tightly and breathing heavily, close to hyperventilating. She didn't care what she said before about not being worried about her NEWT scores, right now they were all she cared about.

Ginny was the first to respond to her, and answered her questions in a soothing voice while rubbing her back lightly. "Honey, it's alright. Seventh year students get priority over the fifth year OWL results. Besides, look around, there certainly aren't as many seventh years as there previously were. That must make everything quicker to grade."

"Of course, you're right Ginny. Will…. Will you do me a favor?"

"Absolutely Hermione, just let me know"

And with that Hermione turned her large eyes on Ginny and with a pleading look handed her the unopened letter. Ginny nodded her head in understanding and quickly unrolled the scroll. Her eyes met Hermione's briefly before she broke into a wide smile and announced she had received an O in everything, and had some of the highest scores in Hogwarts history. She had even beat Severus' potions score by one point with the extra credit she had received from the examiner. She jumped from the table with a smile, grabbed the letter from Ginny, and headed to her rooms to floo down to Severus and show him her results.

He of course had watched the entire play by play from the head table, along with the other Professors who had all rolled their eyes when they saw her nervously hand the letter to Ginny. As soon as she took off, he excused himself to head back to his rooms, knowing she would be flooing into his rooms soon.

As usual, he was correct and not five minutes after arriving in his quarters, Hermione stepped through the floo. She bounded over to him in three large skips and thrust her letter in his face. Before he could actually read any of the result however, she had thrown herself forward and kissed him soundly then proceeded to inform him of her very lucrative shopping excursion, and that all they had left to do was ready the invitations to be sent out after graduation. When she finally stopped rambling long enough to take a breath Severus jumped on the opportunity and read her results.

He, of course, had no doubts about her abilities, and knew he was in very real danger all along of losing his title at the potions score. He had hoped she would score a tad lower then him, or perhaps tie his score, but alas it wasn't to be. Oh well, if you can't beat her, marry her. Still, just for the fun of it, he put on a stern and disbelieving face.

"Miss Granger, haven't I told you before that I am the boss, the superior if you will, in this relationship. I can't go around being made a mockery of because my little girl of a fiancée had outscored me in my own field."

At first Hermione was appalled at his attitude, how dare he talk to her in such a way? She was quite ready to tell him off when she saw the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. It wouldn't have been noticeable to anyone who didn't know him well, but she picked up on it quickly and managed to school her features into looking passably remorseful.

"I am so sorry Professor. I don't know what came over me, it will never happen again."

"That's right it won't, but I don't really believe you have learned your lesson. I think a punishment is required." With those ominous words, he casually flicked his wand in Hermione's direction and had her jeans and blouse changed into her school uniform, though a bit tighter and shorter.

"Oh, so that's how he wants to play this out, does he" She thought. She stepped timidly forward and sank down to her knees, assuming her "punishment" would be to give him head. His eyes widened slightly for a moment, and he looked terribly tempted to release himself and thrust into her wet little mouth, but surprised her by shaking his head and pulling on her arms roughly to get her to stand again.

"No Miss Granger, as tempting as it is to let you suck me off, that wouldn't be much of a punishment now would it? I know how wet you get when you have my cock in your mouth. No, No, No, that won't do at all." He sat himself of the ottoman and beckoned her to him.

"Now, remove your knickers" when she began to hike her skirt up and pull them down he was quick to chastise her. "No Miss Granger, do it slowly." When she complied to his demands and slowly and very sexily slid her barely there knickers down her legs and stepped out of them, it took every ounce of his self control not to groan and rub his throbbing cock through the fabric of his trousers.

"Walk to me now, and I want you bend over my lap." She raised an eyebrow at this demand, but when he looked at her sternly she complied easily enough. She warily lowered herself onto his lap and jumped slightly when she felt his long fingers slide her skirt up around her waist. He slipped one finger inside of her and when he pulled the digit out to find it soaked, he placed it in front of Hermione's lips and groaned when she took it into her mouth and licked him clean of her juices.

"You are a dirty girl, dirty and too fucking smart for your own good" he growled and brought a flat palm down against her butt cheek. She jumped in the air, but immediately settled back down and tensed, waiting for the next slap. She didn't have to wait long, as he continued to slap her ass until it glowed red, and finally, when she couldn't hold it in any longer, Hermione began shaking. The hand immediately stopped, and Severus was quick to find out if he was too rough and had actually hurt her, but before he could raise her off of him, she surprise him. Taking great gulps of air, he was quick to realize she was laughing, not crying and when he quirked an eyebrow at her she responded quickly to the silent question. "I am so sorry for ruining the moment Severus, but all I could think about was saying 'thank you professor, may I have another?'"

Before she could move he had slapped her ass one last time and replied "yes you may have another, cheeky little witch". They both laughed, but it was quickly cut off when he slipped his fingers in her wet little slit again. They were both getting warmed up again, when a knock sounded on the door to Severus' chambers. Groaning in frustration, and beginning to think that tonight wasn't mean to happen, he rose and crossed to the door to see who his visitor was.

Hermione heard hush voices then silence, and was therefore surprised when Ginny matched into the dungeon rooms and looked to be fuming.

"Um Ginny darling" Hermione started "I don't mean to be rude, but when I said I was going to show Severus my scores, you knew that was code for I was coming down here to fuck him right?

Ginny looked momentarily abashed before she replied. "I…yes…I did know that, sorry you two, but Harry and I have just been fighting over something incredibly stupid, something about quid ditch, you wouldn't care, and I needed to go somewhere to fume. Umm, not to play dumb, but you weren't wearing that uniform when you left dinner."

Just realizing what she had on, Hermione smile saucily at Severus, who looked more then a bit embarrassed, and responded by turning around and lifting up the back of her skirt, showing Ginny her red bum. Ginny turned to Severus with a naughty little smile, then returned her full attention to Hermione once again.

"Hmm and how did fucking cause your ass to redden? Does Professor Snape need glasses? Did he miss?" By this time Severus was mortified, but figured he would give it a chance to unfold naturally, after all the last time she was here, he was privy to watching two young beautiful girls go at it while he was allowed to fuck one of them.

"No silly, Severus has no problem in that department, I was just getting a detention. The Professor was disappointed that I had beaten his NEWT score in potions, and he gave me a spankin'."

It was then that Ginny surprise them both by dropping to her knees and giving each one of Hermione's butt cheeks and open mouthed kiss. She then stood and looked to Hermione with look that Severus had gotten all too familiar with, after all he had taught to Weasley twins for six years.

"Hermione, I don't think it's fair that he punishes you for doing so well. I think that you need to show him who's boss. Maybe we should punish him."

"Ginny, you are so smart. I don't think I have ever agreed with you more. Severus" she said sharply and turned to face him "you certainly are in for it now."

With that said, Severus found himself strapped to the armchair and his clothes mysteriously vanished. He gulped nervously, his Adams apple bobbing, but the strength of his erection belied his willingness to be punished.

The girls were quick to shed their own clothes, and they turned to each other each watching Severus out of the corner of their eyes while they leaned in to kiss. Their tongues dueled, and hands explored fleshy breasts and soft skin. Severus was watching the two of them, mesmerized at the sight of his beloved throwing herself so passionately at another woman. The objects of his fantasies turned towards him and sensually walked over to where he was tied; dropping to their knees and each wrapped a dainty hand around the base of his shaft, pumping him up and down while they kissed.

He honestly wasn't sure how long he could continue like this, and was sure he would lose it when they began fingering each other and licking his shaft up and down, their tongues occasionally touching. Each took turns sliding him into their mouths and it wasn't very long before he was thrusting against the bindings once again trying desperately to convey his need to them. They ignored him completely (that must be the punishment part) and continued at their own pace for awhile. Finally they took pity upon him and sped up, sucking him harder while their hands continued to touch each other, though now with more need. He came with a shout, spraying the girls with streams of thick creamy cum.

They released him from his binds and all three scourgified themselves before they dressed. They once again, walked Ginny to the door, who looked as though she was ready to forgive the boy who pissed her off, and walked out the door, turning to the couple at the last minute with a troubled look.

"You know I really enjoy that, but I really should stop. It's not quite fair to Harry, and I do love him." Hermione looked alarmed at this statement and was quick to reassure her.

"Ginny Love, we enjoy that too, but we love you and don't want you to be uncomfterable. Of course it won't happen anymore, now go to Harry and tell him how much you love him. And for god sakes don't get into anymore fights over the Chudley Cannons."

A/N: Up next… DUH DUH DUH DUH…. THE WEDDING! Lol, yay!

EruthiadwenGreenleaf- I let my b/f know about the pony. He grumbled and said something about crazy woman that make him go broke. Lol, stupid men never give us what we want.

adge9631- thanks so much for the encouragement, I really appreciate it!

amd2175- Congratulations! I am so happy for you! Good luck at whatever your choose, you seem very very sweet and I know you will succeed in whatever you choose!

AndromedaTonks- Thanks so much! I love your name, Tonks is one of my favorites!


	25. The Wedding

Chapter 25...The Wedding

She stared at her reflection in the mirror, happy with what she saw looking back at her. Her hair had been twisted into an elegant knot with an orchid secured to the right of it, standing out brilliantly against the natural chestnut luster of her curls. Her makeup was simple as well, knowing Severus preferred her with little or no makeup. The light pinkish-brown lip color was glossy and natural, keeping with the pattern of light golden eye shadow and subtle coloring to her cheeks.

Hermione was incredibly happy that the day she had waited for was finally here. It caused quite the scandal at graduation a couple weeks back when, after she had thrown her cap in the air, she immediately ran into Severus' arms and kissed him passionately. It seemed the crowd had held their breaths, waiting to see what the sour potions professor would do to the brash Gryffindor who dared encroach upon his personal space. Therefore, they were shocked when after only a moment's hesitation he wrapped his long arms around her and kissed back with everything he could muster.

They took the opportunity of the crowds silence to announce their wedding in two weeks and, after swearing Professor McGonagall had no idea of their relationship, strode over to Hermione's parents and set off for Severus' home to celebrate. The scandal, as predicted, spread fast and hard, but also as predicted the couple's status in the war over rid most peoples doubts, and nearly everyone wished the couple well.

So it was here that Hermione found herself looking into the mirror while being laced into a corset, and daydreaming about the long road to this day. She had expected to feel excited, or nervous, and she certainly felt those things last night, but now on the morning of her wedding all she felt was an overwhelming sense of peace and rightness. She had her mother and her closest friends with her, supporting her and her chance at happiness, and for the first time since she had received her Hogwarts letter, she knew that all was right in the world.

A particularly sharp tug on the laces of her torture device jerked her out of her ruminations, and the girls laughed at her face while it was screwed up in pain. Once she had caught her breath, she didn't waste the opportunity to threaten them with the same treatment at their own weddings. It was then that the red haired head of Mr. Weasley popped into the room. At this point, Hermione was just securing the dress in place and having the quick hands of Mrs. Weasley, her mom, Ginny, and Millicent secure hundreds of buttons into place.

Upon seeing Hermione in her gown, Mr. Weasley immediately closed the mouth he had opened to speak, and took a moment to not so subtly wipe the tears forming in his eyes away.

"Oh Hermione, I had no idea you would look so beautiful today. Even in my wildest dreams I never thought anyone could look so much like an angel."

Hermione felt herself tearing up as well, and was eternally grateful for the charmed makeup she had used. It was no secret that Arthur and Molly Weasley were the parents she had when her own couldn't be there. The entire Weasley clan was the family that she had relied on for everything pertaining to the magical world, and the blessing of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley was only second in importance to her than the one from her own parents.

"Thank you Mr. Weasley. I am so glad you are here today; you know that if my parents couldn't have been here, I would have asked you to escort me down the aisle. You are every bit as much of my family as my own mother and father are."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley both smiled wistfully at that sentiment, and felt their hearts squeeze at hearing Hermione say what they all felt. There was a time when Molly would have given anything to see her youngest son settle down with Hermione. Alas, it was not meant to be and all she could do was thank the heavens that everything had been settled amicably between her and Ron. It was Mrs. Weasley that broke from her thoughts first and led them back into reality when she abruptly questioned her husband on why he was sticking his head into the brides changing room without knocking first.

"Oh goodness, I almost forgot, I have been sent to tell you that the ceremony will begin in ten minutes. And also that someone may want to get your father some calming draught, because as of now he is pacing a hole in the carpet of the groom's dressing room muttering about his baby girl growing up. I think he may be more nervous then Severus."

The group of woman all chuckled at hearing this, but it quickly tapered off and they turned to Hermione who was preparing to walk towards her future. She stepped gracefully out the doors and took a deep breath before lining up behind her bridesmaids, ready to make an entrance.

The doors swung open in time to the wedding march, and the crowd cooed appreciatively at the beautiful gowns and ecstatic smiles of Ginny and Millicent. They stood and turned and Severus felt as if the world had stopped turning on its axis. For the first time in his life, a smile that he was completely unaware of, lit his face in the presence of people other them Hermione, and it wouldn't seem to go away.

She was the most glorious creature he had ever had the honor to be in the same room with, and at that moment, it felt surreal to think that she was walking towards him upon her own free will. The blood rushed to his ears and after taking her hand from her father he later wouldn't be able to recall one thing that happened until they were told to kiss. The first kiss that they shared as man and wife was one that sent silver and gold mists swirling around them and wrapping them in a warm cocoon of each others auras. Later at the reception, the guests would say that they hadn't seen such a powerful binding since the ceremony of Arthur and Molly.

The reception was beautiful, with hundreds of people crowding around to wish the couple a happy life together. It was certainly a larger event then either of them had anticipated, but after people had gotten used to the idea of the two of them together, the outpouring of well wishers who asked to attend kept growing. Hermione, who was distraught about having to tell so many people no, had confided to her mother and Mrs. Weasley her wishes to invite anyone who wanted to come and was overwhelmed with emotion when the two woman put their heads together and told her they would handle it.

They certainly did handle it. Everything was amazing, from the decorations and food, to the large tiered wedding cake, and it seemed as though everyone was set to have the time of their lives. Cake was devoured, liquor was dispensed like it was handshakes and smiles, and raucous dancing ensued into the early hours of the morning, and certainly long after the bride and groom had disappeared to begin their honeymoon in Italy.

The highlight of the evening had to of been when Harry requested that the magical DJ play the YMCA, during which he proceeded to hold a large class teaching the dance to the people, and found himself explaining the concept of what a YMCA was to a very enthusiastic Mr. Weasley. It was also rumored that a very drunk Remus Lupin had at one point donned a pair of ladies knickers on his head and announced an odd fascination for sheep, which scared and worried some people, but made Aberforth, Albus Dumbledore's brother nod his head in understanding, having the same desire for goats. The presents for the couple were piled high in the corner wrapped in cheery paper, and Mrs. Weasley had promised to banish them all to the couple home the next day. Though they were sure she would do it and do it well, Hermione asked her mother to help with that seeing as how Molly was looking decidedly rosy in the cheeks herself, and was asking Arthur if he knew a glamour that would make him look like Gilderoy Lockhart that they could use later that night.

But certainly, the most memorable event for Hermione was when during toasts, Severus stood and handed her a large manila envelope. Hermione looked at him with adoring eyes which promptly began to water, when she slid the contents out onto her lap. It was the deed to the cottage in Maine. Severus had scrimped and saved and all the extra money he could find from selling potions on the side, he had used to buy her the cottage where it all started for them.

Hermione was thrilled with the gesture, and laughed in delight when she told Severus that she had actually looked into buying the cottage for him, but some bastard made an offer before she could manage to scrounge up enough for the down payment. The couple laughed, embraced, and took the opportunity to steal more kisses, as sickeningly sweet as it was. It wasn't long before the wedding night bug was beginning to sink its fangs into Hermione and Severus, and they took the opportunity to kiss her parents goodbye and slip out to apperate to the villa in Italy.

A/N - I know I have been neglecting my duties and not updating regularly, but I posted this quickie to get my juices flowing, and tomorrow I will post the honeymoon chapter. To be honest, I have no excuse for slacking off other then I have been royally cheesed off at my b/f who lately seems incapable of not being a douche bag, and I know if I tried to write a wedding scene it would end in Severus getting his lovely dangly bits hexed off. I couldn't have Hermione channeling my own hatred for the male species at her own wedding now could I? Still, the end is near and I shall be posting frequently once more! I love all of you!


	26. Honeymoon and a Werewolf in Italy

Chapter 26...Honeymoon and a Werewolf in Italy

The newlyweds popped into appearance down the smooth dirt and pebble street from a beautiful villa painted in deep burnt umber. The walked slowly up the path, trying desperately to see any of the landmarks the vacation retreat was known for. Hermione meanwhile, was cursing the absence of an automobile while she tugged the skirts of her dress halfway up her shins and trudged awkwardly a few step behind Severus. At one point the tried carrying her up the path, but the dress weighed nearly as much as Hermione and it wasn't long before he was red faced with exertion.

When they finally reached their destination, Hermione was once again swept into his arms as he carried her over the threshold of their home for the next two weeks. He set her down on the rust colored clay tiles and they both looked around, taking in the quaint beauty and in equal but opposite measure, the homey grandness of the place. Upon the entering through the foyer, there was a wrought iron staircase with a scrubbed wooden banister that spiraled up to the second floor. There was a kitchen with granite countertops and huge bathrooms that led the couple to believe that it was a wizard who owned the place.

Hermione and Severus were ecstatic with their surroundings, but were anxious to get to bed and sleep off the tiring day. Okay well, eventually sleep off the tiring day. They took the staircase to the second floor and saw that it was just one large mast suite. The bed looked nearly twice as big as a king size, there was an enormous master bathroom, a large saltwater fish tank with beautiful brightly colored fish swimming around, and a armoire with a telly.

"Severus, I am going to take a bath in that wonderful tub, and relax before I come to bed, would you care to join me?" He looked a bit skeptical about wasting time bathing when there were so many more of his "husbandly" duties he could have been engaging in instead, but when she conjured two champagne glasses a bottle of expensive bubbly and a plate of strawberry's he was filling the tub for her before he knew it.

He slipped into the bubbles and relaxed while his wife slipped in and settled between his knees. The feel of each others bodies rubbing against each other while slick with water and soap was intoxicating, and it wasn't long before the couple found themselves entwined in a loop of limbs, faces, and genitalia. The water was slopping heavily out of the tub on both sides and both were prepared for a fairly large mess when they climbed out of the water.

Feeling extremely sated after their first bout of lovemaking as husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Snape climbed into the large soft bed, and Severus found himself curled around his petite wife's body. Though both were exhausted it seemed their unmentionable extremities had a different idea, and just when he was on the edge of sleep "little Severus" made himself known again.

He willed himself to ignore it, but it was extremely difficult to do when one had his lovely wife mere inches from him sleep soundly and beautifully. Luckily, he was saved from deciding to wake her, when he felt a hand snake around her body and wrap his fully erect member in a warm embrace, and then lightly tug him forward to slip into her from behind.

"Surely this is what heaven is" Severus murmured softly in Hermione's ear before thrusting deeper.

The coupling was slow and sweet and unlike earlier in the bathtub, they took their time and built each others passions up to the extreme before allowing the inevitable explosion that was always so close when they were near each other. Hermione tightened around him and fell asleep quickly, Severus following soon after and they slept until late in the morning without Severus ever pulling out of her the night before.

When the sun peeked through the drawn curtains so insistently that they had no choice other then to surrender to its will and roll out of bed, they were surprised and awed by the view they were denied the previous evening. In front of the bed, were large floor to ceiling widows and a set of double doors that led to a balcony that wrapped around the entire building. The morning air was crisp and clear, and there were vineyards as far as the eyes could see and a small village dotting the horizon.

They stood arm in arm for what felt like hours watching the tree's and vines and walking around to see the bay on the opposite side of the house. Just when they were prepared to go inside and search for breakfast, a house elf appeared and with a snap of his fingers had set a small table, two chairs, and in true house elf style, a large buffet breakfast out in front of the couple.

Hermione and Severus looked startled at seeing the elf, and having it run away before they could meet it properly, but after Severus held a chair out for Hermione to sink into, left it alone, figuring it was indeed a wizard's residence. They finished their breakfast at a leisurely rate and wandered inside to dress for the day. After throwing on their clothes they were quick to grab some money (both muggle and wizarding) and begin the walk to the village.

They spent the day hand in hand and exploring small shops and cafés, feeding birds in the squares, and meeting a large number of sweet people in the village that recognized them as the newlyweds renting the villa. Hermione was presented with so many stocks of flowers she had enough for several bouquets, and Severus endured with aplomb many old woman kissing his cheeks and whispering how handsome he was in rapid Italian to Hermione.

They took their time exploring, knowing they had two weeks to enjoy each others company and the beauty of the Italian countryside. They had originally considered traveling all over Italy and staying in each place only a couple of nights, but with being able to apperate, and with the now steady stream of funds coming to them from the lycanthropy cure, the world was literally at their fingertips and they had at least the next hundred years to travel. As they honeymooned leisurely, their seaside retreat was being worked on by muggle contractors who were told to work around the clock to make the place "suitable for my beautiful bride".

The two weeks they spent in Italy was amazing, but was quickly coming to close. Both were sad to have to leave it behind, they would miss the friends they had made in the village, who had gone so far as to throw them a goodbye dinner in the square of the village two evenings before they left. The children ran about their legs, played and giggled, and most of all, begged Severus to stay and play with them. After all, the tall man could lift them high in the air, pick fruit from the tallest branches for them, and more then once the newly married couple had arrived with ice cream cones by the dozed to pass out to the children.

When Severus responded by telling these children that he would love to stay, but they had to return home so his new wife could be checked by her doctor the mood turned somber. They looked at Hermione with worried eyes, but when Severus broke into a grin and explained that a baby doctor would be examining her they were joyous cries from all around, and Hermione found herself with dozens more flowers being thrust in her direction.

They danced and celebrated late into the night, and though they had planned to spend most of their trip locked in their villa getting to acquaint themselves as husband and wife, the charm and friendly allure of the small Italian village and its people proved to be to strong to stay away from. They were sad to go, but promised they would visit again after the children were born. They were sent home for the night to rest before their return trip in the morning, but when Hermione looked as though she wasn't going to be able to make it all the way back, they were surprised to see a thestral pulled carriage pull forward for them.

Hermione and Severus looked shocked at seeing this, and quickly turned to see if the villagers had noticed. It was then that they looked around to see that most of them were indeed caring wands in their back pockets or up their sleeves. As it turned out, after some friendly questioning, that they dressed and acted mostly as muggles as somewhat of a safeguard against Voldemort. They didn't think they would be bothered by him if they were just a small unheard of community of muggle, so years ago when he had first surfaced, they hid their wizarding village under a lot of wards, and they acted non magical when they had visitors, which was rarely.

When Hermione and Severus looked a bit put out at not being told, they were quickly assured that until the carriage responded to their magical signatures, they had no idea they were in the presence of magical folk either. They were surprised to hear of the existence of a small village on the other side of the small flower shop that was smaller than, but could be compared to Diagon alley.

Severus and Hermione promised to return the next day and explore it, and climbed into the carriage towards their villa. Hermione was asleep before they reached the front gates, and when they arrived at their front doors, Severus carefully lifted her into his arms and carried his sleeping angel up the stairs and tucked her into bed.

As promised, the next morning they returned for one final visit, and were shown one of Italy's smallest wizarding districts. It held none of the high fashion allure of Milan, or they old majestic beauty of Rome, but Hermione thought it was one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen. There were no dirty side streets that one had to keep children from exploring like Knockturn Alley, and the shop were small and bright with little old lady and gentleman shopkeepers who smiled toothy smiles and stopped to have actual conversation with you.

They spent hours their exploring the bookstores and buying small trinkets to remind them of their time there. And perhaps best of all, they told them of their plan to open their own apothecary in Hogsmeade, and made some very useful contacts. These contacts included the nice young wizard that had just inherited his father's apothecary, and who had promised to do business with them in the future. When they told them of the cure for Lycanthropy, which hadn't hit this part of the world yet, they were once again thrilled and asked if they know how to get some.

Hermione and Severus agreed to stay and additional day and brew them some in exchange for all the hospitality they had received; they were surprised at the strong emotional thanks they received. As it turned out, the small boy who had taken to Severus the quickest was bitten while traveling with his parents the previous year. They couldn't afford the ingredients for the Wolfesbane potion, and so he was locked away alone once a month. He was the only villager afflicted, and so though they all stood beside one another and supported his family in their plight, the young boy was still treated as somewhat of an outcast and a lot of people didn't want their children to be exposed to that type of sickness.

When Hermione sat down and told the boy of Remus Lupin, it wasn't long before other villagers, adults and children were cross legged on the ground beside her listening raptly. She told them of how he was bitted and what a great man he was, and most of all how he had taught her in her third year of school. She told them of his war efforts, and how though being a werewolf was a curse, he made the best of it, and without his success of turning some of the other werewolves from the dark side, they may not have won the war. They were amazed and impressed that werewolves were treated so fairly where they came from, and Hermione was quick to rid them of that notion. She went on to tell them of Albus Dumbledore, who they of course had heard of, and how he fought to let Lupin be treated with the same respect the other children were.

The stories were swapped over a large lunch and it was during this that an elderly man in the village put two and two together and realized why he had heard the names Snape and Granger before. Though by now they newlyweds were a more then a bit weary at all the attention they received, they accepted it gracefully and excused themselves to begin the potion for the boy.

They borrowed the apothecary's lab, and set up the ingredients and cauldron quickly. Working efficiently side by side and brewing the potion that would allow them to change the little boy's life. After Hermione added her blood and the potion simmered, they poured it and bottled it, cleaned up, and promised to return the following morning before they left and administer it. Luckily it would be the morning of the full moon, and they wouldn't have to entrust his care to anybody else.

The net morning, Hermione and Severus packed their things and shrunk them down before placing them in their pockets and heading to the village to hopefully change the little boy's life. Luckily, the village had sent the carriage for them once again, and Hermione was relieved to be able to put her feet up and enjoy the scenic ride towards town. Once there they quickly found the boy, gave him the potion, and instructed his parents to lock him away for the first two hours of the night and if he didn't turn by then, then he was cured. They said their final goodbyes, took pictures with their new friends and the children, and waved goodbye, before wrapping their arms around each other and apperating home and back to reality.

A/N: I rather liked writing that chapter, though I know it was uneventful and probably not on of my better ones. I had a bit of a writers block in the beginning, but when it started flowing I was hard pressed to stop. Though I doubt the merit of wasting a whole chapter on just the honeymoon, I do like the werewolf bit and I am happy I left it in their. Thanks guys and now to my responses to all you wonderful reviewers:

Painelust- Old review I know and I am sorry it took me awhile to respond, but thanks for the bout of humor, it made me smile and I needed it!

notwritten- thank you for the encouragement, I love seeing your reviews pop up again and again.

adge9631- thank you ever so much! I am so glad you thought it was sweet, I am not very good and all the romantic BS and I am pleased to hear you like it!

catysmom- You have been with me since the beginning. Always short little reviews, but they still mean so much, they keep me working at it after all. Thank you!

Amber-Jade James- Thank you AJ. Your another one who has been with me since the beginning. I love hearing from you, and seeing your name pop up always puts a smile on my dopey face!

cherry- cute name, I believe I have you tattooed on my write hip. Lol. Thanks for reading!

Heidi191976- I love how you always compliment me on the humor in the story. Just so you know, I usually try to ad them for you, you seem to appreciate them. Thank you for always taking the time to review.

amd2175- You certainly did make me smile. Lol. Though when I got upset and yelled to my b/f "oh great Billy, so not only are you being a jack ass, but now Severus has run to Ash and is warming her bed! Oh god I'm all alone" I think he wanted to run and grab the men in white coats. Thank you for always making me smile though, it means a lot!

NutsAboutHarry- I just love your name, lol. No really though it means a lot how enthusiastic you are, and if I have said it once I have said it a million times, its people like you who keep me writing. Thank you so much!


	27. Barefoot and Pregnant

Chapter 27...Barefoot and pregnant

A couple months had flown by since their honeymoon, and it seemed as though time was flying by. Hermione was now around four and a half moths pregnant, and showing a bit more then someone having only one baby would at this point. They were traveling to St. Mungo's almost twice a month at this point, and though everything looked very healthy, one couldn't be too careful with twins.

During this time, Hermione and Severus had also moved into Spinners End, which Hermione actually fell in love with, and between redecorating the dark home and getting their shop ready, the couple was busy indeed. Finding their perfect shop had gone easier then expected, when walking through Hogsmeade to the realtors office, they came across a dusty little store right on the corner between the sweet shop and the book store. It was a bit small, but came with two stories, which was wonderful because it meant that they could keep the general potions and supplies on the bottom level, and the things that any visiting students should stay away from on the upper floor.

Hermione had set herself up in the middle of the lower level in a squishy armchair and was pointing her wand at things to make them clean themselves. The fireplace had been scrubbed to shining first thing, and then Hermione set her mind to charming the walls to a color that would brighten the place up, but keep it looking clean and professional. They had decided on a light khaki color and it looked marvelous with the crown molding. Currently, Severus was in the back brewing the potions that had the longest shelf life, and Hermione was perched in her chair magically securing shelves to the walls and setting display racks through the aisles.

Before long, Hermione had completed her tasks downstairs and pushed herself out of the chair to do check on Severus and order lunch. She found him in the back lab brewing potions like crazy, he had made great strides and already had boxes full of potions ready to be stocked on the shelves.

"Your really making some headway with these potions darling. I am going to order some lunch for us then I will start setting these out on the displays."

"Order lunch, but I won't have you lugging boxes all over the place. Take off your shoes and I will bring your chair in here so you can keep me company." Severus stated all of this with the air of a man explaining something to an obstinate child. He obviously didn't see the look on his young wife's face that promised the discussion was not over.

Hermione walked over to the fireplace and flooed the café down the street with their order. About five minutes later a large tray of takeout was sent through the fireplace and landed neatly on the small lunch table they had set up.

"Severus, after lunch I will be taking those boxes and setting up displays. Before you open your mouth to fight with me, lets get one thing cleat. I AM A WITCH! Therefore I will be lugging nothing, but I shall continue to use my magic for anything strenuous. I would be brewing potions right now if you weren't so stubborn about that as well. We are in this together, and I refuse to allow you to push me into the kitchen barefoot and pregnant!"

As usual when she began one of her tirades, Severus didn't even try to interrupt her. This was probably the best piece of advice he had gotten from her friends on how to deal with her. He let her say her piece then evaluated whether or not it was worth an argument. It wasn't this time.

"Your right Hermione, I'm sorry. Please do what you want, but I want you to rest for at least fifteen minutes out of every hour. You can also help me brew some of the easier potions tomorrow while I work on the upstairs, I don't want you climbing the stairs. And for your information, I would love nothing more then to keep you barefoot and pregnant for the rest of our lives together."

Hermione had to admit, she loved how he fawned over her, so she decided to at least meet him halfway with his demands. They sat down together and finished lunch before getting back to work, and it wasn't long before Hermione had the boxes of potions empties and the front window decorated to advertise them as the makers of the Remus Potion and explaining details on ordering supplies from them.

The day passed quickly after that and by seven o'clock they were flooing to Spinners End where more work waited to be done. After a light dinner they climbed the stairs to the master suite and threw themselves into bed. As was usual after along days work, their dreams were non existent, or at least so insubstantial they couldn't be remembered, and that was the reason Hermione was confused to wake up and feel the stickiness between her legs.

Before she could fully awake and analyze the situation she found herself gasping for breath and was surprised when he hand flew between her legs to find a silky haired head twirling its delicious tongue around her clit. Knowing that she was now fully awake, Severus took the opportunity to slide two fingers inside of her and thrust them in time with the licks he delivered to her sensitive folds. She soon found him licking up her thighs and stomach and though she felt the loss of him between her legs, she was anxious to kiss him.

The kiss was wet and their tongues dueled for dominance, while their bodies unconsciously gyrated and rubbed against each other desperate for more contact. Eventually Hermione lost patience with the light contact, wrapped her legs around him forcing him inside of her. Once he was inside of her there was nothing Severus could do but enjoy the sensations of her gripping him. A better man then he would have wept t with the sensation of being inside of her. Tight, wet, and hot velvety smoothness brought him close to the edge again and again, and finally in one last thrust, stars exploded behind his eyes as he felt her tighten and scream his name.

"That was one hell of a way to wake me up you know" He smirked in response and brushed the hair off her face before kissing her languidly one last time before they were forced to rise and face the day.

"Don't tell me you didn't like it love. I suppose though if that's the case then I will never do it again. You get ready to go Hermione, and I will fetch us some breakfast."

It wasn't long after that conversation when the couple found themselves back at the store, this time with Severus concentrating on cleaning and decorating while Hermione brewed extra potions with practiced hands. The store was nearly finished and with another couple of weeks work, they would have everything stocked and ready to open with the new school year.

The weeks flew by and with the hard work and determination they both possessed the store opened. It was slow at the beginning, but every day brought a little more business to them as word spread that the inventors of the Remus Potion had opened up shop in Hogsmeade. It wasn't long before they had enough money to hire a shop keeper to watch the front of the store and help customers while they worked in the back. The timing was perfect, as Hermione was now so round she had trouble getting anywhere without feeling as though she would fall and roll down a hill.

Severus had a great time poking fun at his wife who was now roughly and wide as she was tall, and once when he took the joke too far, he spent a good seven hours with a large pregnant belly affixed to the front of him. It only took about two of those seven hours before he was begging for forgiveness and promising diamonds and pet ponies for their children if she would just get the bloody thing off of him. It only took four hours before he began complaining of sensitivity in his breasts and begged her to conjure him some chocolate ice cream with a plate of pickles.

It was getting down to crunch time with the twins and Hermione was the worst patient he had ever seen. She hated being bed ridden and she demanded entertainment so often during the day that he finally broke down and asked Minerva if he could borrow Dobby until after she had the girls. Minerva of course agreed and between the little elf and her friends stopping by all the time, his wife and the mother of his children was finally happy and content enough to shut her trap and wait the final months.

The doctor was making house calls on an almost weekly basis at this point and had told Hermione that he preferred that she have a home birth, as moving her to St. Mungo's would probably cause her undo stress. She was officially in what would be called the danger zone, meaning that though she wasn't at a full nine months she could give birth any day now, and the only person more nervous then her was Severus. At every moan or gasp she made he would run to floo and grasp a handful of powder, ready to call upon the healer if she would just say the work. They had hired another clerk for the second shift at the store and all customers with custom orders were told it would take at least a week longer then normal so that Severus could put in shorter hours at the store.

Their home was finally finished being redecorated and the change was astounding, the most obvious being the door that now resided on the wall near the closet that led to a large nursery. It was bright and airy and filled with tons of toys that were sent from not only friends and family, but from well wishers and those who had been helped by their potions. This included the large bear in corner from the family of the little boy in Italy who was now a very popular and carefree young wizard.

Finally, the day had arrived, still two weeks before her due date, but Hermione felt her water break and called out for Dobby. She hissed instruction for him to fetch Severus from the shop and then tell Harry to let everyone know she was in labor. The little house elf was nothing if not efficient, and it wasn't ten minutes before Severus had thrown the door to their bedroom open and rushed over to her.

"Severus, it's time Darling, my water just broke and I am having contractions. I am okay for right now, but you need to floo the healer and let him know I am in labor. Tell him to hurry and for goodness sake tell him to bring a competent nurse."

Severus wasted no time on replying to her, he just quickly ran forward and threw a handful of powder into the flames and hollered the message to the receptionist at the maternity ward. After this task was completed, he rushed back to his wife's side, grabbed her hand, and asked her why in the world she would specify that he bring a "competent nurse".

"Because Severus, you fainted when I told you I was pregnant, you fainted when I told you it was twins, and I don't hold out high hopes that you will get through the delivery without you fainting again. I want a nurse here to watch over you so I don't have to worry."

"I resent that Hermione; I was surprised by the news before, now I have spent months preparing myself for this. I want to be there for you the entire time." Hermione could see the sincerity in his eyes, and she allowed him to kiss her softly after she apologized for thinking so little of his manliness. She was about to apologize once again, when a contract wracked her body and she screamed. She turned to tell Severus to tell the healer to hurry and that was when she noticed him. On the ground. In a dead faint.

adge9631- Thanks again!

sevsnapelove09- aww thanks you! Wait; was that a good wow or a bad wow?

amd2175- once again you make me laugh! Hey those wallpapers sound awesome, where do you get them from? Pretty please!

Heidi191976- Thank you so much! I just love the feedback you give!


	28. If You Ever Touch Me Again

Chapter 28... If You Ever Touch Me Again

The Healer and his nurse had long ago arrived and revived Severus. They were currently enduring the worst part of labor, which was playing the waiting game. Hermione had taken pity on Severus, who flinched and paled every time a contraction hit her, so she kept sending him on little errands. She sent him for ice chips, which he retrieved by hand, forgetting for a moment he was a wizard, and to tell her friends little messages. At one point she asked him to tell Ginny and Millicent to come in and asked him to wait outside.

Once they were inside her room, she tasked her girlfriends with keeping Severus busy and calm, and the girls promised they would do whatever they could, after all half of Hogwarts was outside waiting to see the her and the babies, so they would have help. They were getting ready to leave and let Hermione rest when Millicent reached across Hermione and patted her on the shoulder. Just then Hermione let out a shriek so loud that Severus came running to her as if he had apperated at her bedside.

"Another one already Darling? Okay get ready grad my hand." He coached, obviously trying to act tougher then he was around his former students.

Hermione just chuckled and hurried to explain why when she saw the worried looks of her friends who obviously though the pain was making her delirious. "No Severus, I am not having a contraction, sorry. But umm, Millicent will show me your hand? Don't be sneaky either; I want to see your left hand."

Just as Hermione suspected, when Millicent presented her hand, there was a modest but very beautiful diamond perched atop a white gold band. She looked sheepishly around the room, and a slight blush rose to her cheeks as she explained to Hermione.

"Well, Ron and I are getting married, he proposed last evening. We didn't want to say anything until after the babies were born so you didn't get over excited and shoot a kid out across the room or anything."

"Really Miss Bulstrode, a Weasley? Oh well if you must, but I certainly thought you had better taste then that" Severus interjected in a teasing voice.

It was Ginny that replied to that as she mumbled under her breath "Really Severus, as if you haven't had a go at a Weasley yourself."

Luckily it was only Severus and Hermione that heard this reply, and they laughed good naturedly at the reminder.

"Oh well, I believe congratulations are in order. I hope you are as happy as I have been lately." Severus patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. Though she was more friend then former pupil at this point, he still hadn't gotten over his fear of showing students affection. It just seemed wrong, well except for the one that was about to have his daughters.

Congratulations went around the room and the girls left to sit in the nursery that had become somewhat of a makeshift waiting room. The contractions began again and Hermione breathed deeply, willing herself not to fall apart at the pain. For Merlin's sake though, she wanted these babies out of her. NOW. Her parents had arrived about ten minutes ago, and Hermione was glad Severus had the distraction of her father looking at him pityingly, having been through this before. She would have though Arthur would have been a better choice for that, but he was currently running around the house more nervous then anyone else.

The Healer checked her again and pointedly ignored the warning look he was getting from Severus (honestly, how is he supposed to deliver the babies if he can't look at her vagina?) then announced she was fully dilated. Severus grabbed onto her hand and soothed her with encouraging words while the nurse bustled around preparing everything and he doctor instructed her to breathe and begin pushing.

It wasn't long before Hermione was letting out streams of expletives and yelling at Severus for ever touching her. He tried to take it all in good humor, but finally yelled back, telling her she went after him first. Apparently while she was in labor wasn't the best time to reason with her, because she simply told him to "shut the fuck up before he ended up with another pregnancy belly, this time with labor pains".

Soon though pushing and breathing kept her suitably occupied, and it wasn't long before they announced their first daughter had entered the world and her sister not too long after. Both girls were whisked away to be cleaned up and cared for before they were handed to the proud parents. The couple looked at each other and their daughters, and Hermione promptly burst into tears, where she sobbed quietly murmuring about how lucky she was. Severus felt the same and probably more, being a man that had though he would die alone without friends or a family, but he was able to keep his emotions under wraps a bit easier.

He just looked between one tiny baby and the next before flicking his eyes in wonderment at his wife who had calmed down and was softly singing a lullaby. He was astounded that he could have been part of making something so beautiful, let alone two something's so beautiful.

He looked up to Hermione and softly said "we should let the other know. You know they have your nose". She nodded and smiled.

"Everyone will be happy to meet them. Thank god they have my nose by the way, but they have your hair."

"Thank the gods on that front as well. Can you imagine your hair with my nose? They would be super intelligent and horribly ugly. I'm not quite sure how they came out so beautiful, but if they grow up half as pretty as their mother I am locking them away until they are thirty." Severus replied with a look on his face that said he really wasn't kidding at all.

Severus stood and very carefully carried the bundle in his arms to the door which he stuck his head outside of and announced they could come in and see his new baby girls. He returned to his place by Hermione's bed and waited patiently while the group shuffled in and conversed in hushed tones. There was a collective gasp when the two held their daughters up for everyone to see, and the little ones moved their little fists and feet and gurgled, saying hello to the largest extended family two lucky little girls every had.

"May we present to you Lauralie May Snape who is the oldest by seven minutes whom Severus is holding. And Cloey Eileen Snape our youngest" she said as she tickled Cloey under the chin with her fingertips and smiled lovingly at everyone in the room.

After an hour or so more of conversing and planning a viewing of the children at Hogwarts in about a month, everyone left the couple alone with their new family. Hermione's parents were staying for about a week to help out, and they quickly said goodnight to their Daughter and Son in law and their new grandbabies then retired down the hall. Severus and Hermione spent a little long cuddling with their daughters before setting them down to sleep and curling up around each other to drift off themselves.


	29. The Rest of Our Lives

Chapter 29 … The Rest Of Our Lives

The girls were now about six months old and it was a surprise to no one who truly knew Severus that he doted upon his daughters. For all the bullshit he spouted for years about having to deal with obnoxious dunderheads who were spoiled rotten he was well on his way to making his daughters the most spoilt of them all. He had even gotten over his aversion to the color pink and could be seen during several weekends happily pushing a large pink stroller around Hogsmeade with the girls safely tucked inside.

Their apothecary had taken off splendidly and with the profits they had earned thus far, Hermione and Severus had built a large lab onto the house where they could brew a majority of the potions for the shop and experiment with new breakthroughs. They had hired several employees to work the store for them and all they had to do was handle the book keeping and keep the shop well stocked which left them ample time with their family and to develop new cures. After the Remus Potion had been distributed to everyone who needed it, free of charge to those who couldn't afford the ingredients, they developed the first cure to the after effects of crucio.

Ron and Millicent had married the previous month and though Ron failed his Auror exam he surprised everyone by going into the Ministry and becoming the new partner in the misuse of muggle artifacts office. Arthur had been promoted much to everyone's delight, and it was with a large smile and a tear in his eye that he handed his son the keys to the office. Millicent was thrilled to announce her parents overwhelming approval of her decision to marry Ron and with a generous donation from her parents, opened an orphanage dedicated to the memory of all those who had lost family in the war.

They had begun making quite a life together and with their charity and hard work they had moved quickly up the social ladder. They had begun planning for their first child, but in a cruel blow to the couple, after a trip to St. Mungo's they were told that Millicent was unable to carry a child to term. They took the blow better then expected, and in the couple true fashion they announced to their friends that they had plans to adopt from their orphanage. Hermione had never been so proud of her friend before, and even Severus would tell the story of one of his Slytherin students to anyone that would listen.

As a gift to their friend's happy news of adoption, Severus and Hermione started a charity that would allow any student with magical ability to be allowed to enter Hogwarts with at least the bare minimum of a new wand and at least two new sets of student robes. And for the unfortunate children who showed no signs of magical ability, funds were set aside to allow the children to be schooled and trained for either the muggle world, or jobs they could do in the wizarding world without magic.

Ginny was close to completing her final year, and Harry had plans to propose shortly after she graduated. He couldn't wait until he was able to start a family of his own and luckily Ginny was as bright eyed and hopeful of their future together as Harry was. Harry had begun major renovations on Grimmauld place and he was several months from completing it, but it was nearly unrecognizable as the depressing, dank, hole it was before.

Hermione and Severus had vowed to create a potion to cure Millicent's problem, which were not rooted in fertility, so they could not be solved by simple fertility potions. She could get pregnant, quite easily actually, but for some reason that the healers couldn't identify she couldn't carry the child past a couple of weeks. Ron and Millicent were ecstatic about the couples vow to find a way to allow them to have their own children some day though they were both whole heartedly content with heir decision to adopt.

Draco and Neville were still together, and living at Hogwarts. Draco had accepted a junior Professorship in charms while he finished his apprenticeship and was teaching flying on the side. As it turned out, the rumors were true about Madame Hooch and she had run off with another woman to celebrate their life together in the bright post Voldemort world. What did surprise everyone however, was the fact that it was Professor Sprout she had run off with, leaving herbology vacant for Neville to do what he always dreamed of and help shape the students in the subject he knew best. The happy couple was considering adopting as well.

And as for Blaise, he had found a beautiful blonde muggle whom he fell madly in love with while he was traveling after graduation. The couple had eloped in Sweden where they met and were continuing to travel the world before they would settle back in London and Blaise would join Harry in the Auror department. The group of friends kept in close contact with each other, but due to their busy lives it was not very often that they had the opportunity to get together.

It was yet another six months later when the twins first birthday party drew the group together again. The whole group was gathered at the Snape's home and were watching the children play and enjoy each other. Hermione and Severus had invited the entire orphanage for a bit of fun and sunshine, and currently Severus was watching his wife warily, knowing the look on her face meant they were about ten minutes from adopting one of the orphans. That look was the reason they had three cats, she couldn't walk away from something she deemed worth saving. Thank Merlin for that though, or else they may have been partying at a dark revel instead of his daughters first birthday party.

Several rolls of film were taken as the twins toddled around after the four year old rambunctious boy named Collin that Ron and Millicent had adopted. Though it was not nearly as cute as Draco and Neville who were busy being sickeningly sweet and crooning over their beautiful baby boy named Erick who had been abandoned by his mother several months back on the steps of the orphanage.

The highlight of the party came however when it was time to track down the children for cake and ice cream and Hermione found them in a circle clapping and giggling as Severus pulled several live white rabbits out of a hat announcing "Abra Cadabra" and handing the small furry animals to the children to enjoy. He apparently had awarded himself no small amount of satisfaction knowing that there would be no shortage of mating bunnies in the orphanage in a few months.

Ginny and Harry were happy to announce to the group that they were indeed engaged and would be married in several months. Looking around at her childhood friends and even her childhood enemies all gathered at her home was enough to send Hermione into a quick fit of nostalgia and she felt herself tear up. For the first time since she was a child Hermione could look around and honestly believe that everything would be okay from then on. Surviving the perils of childhood intact was difficult enough for any child, magical or not, but the group of people gathered around her today were some of the strongest she had ever met.

The party continued without a hitch and even Severus enjoyed himself, taking the time to make sure they got pictures of "Uncle Remus" dressed as a clown and trying to juggle. They were amazed at his agility with the things he chose to juggle until they noticed Tonks hiding her wand rather poorly and levitating the items for him. It was bound to be a full and wonderful life for everyone and it the years that followed there would be many a happy memory and cause for celebration for the friends.

Hermione was reflecting upon these feelings of rightness and even planning a trip to the cottage in Maine with Millicent and Ginny for the following summer when Severus tapped her on the shoulder and pulled her away from the group. When questioned why he simply reached behind him and pulled out a long velvet box. Upon inspecting it she was pleased to find a long silver bracelet with that was intertwined with a matching gold one. The effect was beautiful but it wasn't truly stunning until she read the small inscription on the back which read "thank you for allowing me to live 'happily ever after'".

The End

A/N- First of all, Christina if you're reading this, this chapter is for you! I love you babe!

Alright guys, so I am currently writing an epilogue which shall be out in around two days. I don't think I am quite fond of the final chapter but it will have to do and I can hopefully make up for the inadequacies in the epilogue. Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed and thank you to those who just read. What started out as a way to kill some time ended up being something that has meant a lot to me. There are a lot of you who have kept me writing and even made me feel like I was part of a little community with people like myself who just wanted to pretend for awhile. It has been such great fun and I have some ideas for a couple new stories that I will hopefully get out soon! Thank you so much!


	30. Epilogue

Epilogue

It had been seventeen years today since Severus married his Hermione, and every year brought them new challenges and new memories. Voldemort had stayed dead and the world was slowly moving into a place where Purebloods valued Muggleborns for their new views on how to modernize the wizarding world and Muggleborns valued Purebloods for their old values.

Draco and Neville were still together and had adopted three children from the orphanage which ere doted upon with a fervor unmatched by any family they knew of. Their middle child, Jack, was now fifteen and quite seriously dating Ron and Millicent's youngest and only biological child, who had just turned fourteen. The orphanage had long since closed with all the children finding happy homes and those new additions being sent to foster families. Molly and Arthur Weasley had spearheaded that program and had taken in at least a dozen children over the years.

Harry and Ginny were working quite hard on living up the Weasley reputation of having children by the houseful. They were indeed taking Hogwarts over slowly between the droves of redheads with messy hair and their friends. The mischief had been made in droves and rumor has it, a certain map was now the stuff of legend and secretly passed down through the generations of mischief makers.

Severus and Hermione had made quite a name for themselves in the world with their apothecary and they were enjoying every moment spent with each other and their children. Severus had been invited back to Hogwarts as the Headmaster but he respectfully declined the invitation because of his children's not so silent pleas to "not embarrass" them. Hermione had poked fun at him for weeks stating that if anyone of his former students could see the big bad bat being cowed by his daughters they would die laughing.

His twin daughters were the light of his life and they could silence any rampage he was on with a simple gleam in their eye, one he was certain their mother taught them. They were older sisters to two younger brothers, one eleven and one seven and though they acted indignant of ever boyish behavior their sibling exhibited, they were very fond of them. The girls had been sorted into Ravenclaw much to both parents very exuberant displeasure, though the girls were secretly sure their parents were proud.

Severus had recently decided to take on another apprentice, someone who in another five years or so would be prepared to take over the shop. He had accumulated enough wealth with Hermione that he hoped to travel while the children were away at school.

Over the years he had kept up correspondence with the little boy's family in Italy who they had cured of Lycanthropy. It seemed as though he was inspired by the events all those years ago and had begun pursuing a career in portions. Upon hearing this Severus immediately consulted Hermione who agreed whole heartedly with him and he sent a letter to the boy, offering him an apprenticeship pending him proving his skill with a practical exam.

Fifteen Years Later

The years had once again flown by for the couple and once again they had been filled with happiness and a fair share of sadness as well. The little boy from Italy, Serge was his name, had grown into a fine young man and after completing his apprenticeship with the Snape's he had gladly taken over the shop.

Their humble shop had continued to flourish under his management and Severus and Hermione had begun fulfilling their dreams of traveling the world. During their travels they had word of Cloey's imminent engagement to Serge which they happily returned for. They had seen their children married off one by one and were now proud and happy grandparents who were able to dote upon their children's children the way they doted upon their own children.

The years had been kind to both of them, lending them wisdom and many laugh lines, a luxury that in his youth Severus doubted he would have in his lifetime. They had lost a grandchild at birth and poor Blaise had lose his wife to a muggle disease that no one had known abut until it was too late. Sadness had crept upon them at awful moments that none of the friends would ever dare forget, but the happiness that pervaded each day was enough to remind everyone that the darkness was truly gone from their lives once and for all.

In the end, Severus and Hermione lived happily ever after and they owed it all to their little seaside retreat.

NutsAboutHarry- Thank you so much! I am very excited about writing more. And I will conjure up some virtual water in a virtual vase for those beautiful flowers. Thank you!

amd2175- I have already begun a new story all for you!

slytherin-princess- Thank you so much darling!

LisaJean- I appreciate the input! I do realize seven minutes between twins is crazy, but I used it because seven is the most magically powerful number. I also took a bit of creative licensing with the fact that they are magical and that had to ease childbirth a bit, though I didn't really write that in so you are correct. Thanks!

Ameliagirl- Even if you were a stalker I still love you for it. Thanks so much you made me feel so good!

And to all those who I didn't mention, you know who you are. Your reviews have been light in my darkest hours and I love you so much for it. Thank you for boosting my self esteem so much and just a heads up, I have already begun a new fic!


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